The Yin and the Yang
by FFcrazy15
Summary: Sequel to Eye of the Dragon. A message arrives from somebody of both Po and Tigress' past. Meanwhile, their relationship is in trouble due to the fact that they can't get each other out of their heads...literally.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

Warning: there may be some slight cursing in this fic, so if you're too much of a… well, I don't want to get thrown off the site, so if you don't like that, don't read it.

A/N: Yes, this is for all of you out there that wanted a sequel. I have to warn you, the way I usually work is that I'll do one long story, a few little one-shots, and then start another story before becoming obsessed with something else and writing fanfiction for, say, The Green Lantern or something like that. I'll try not to do that here, but no promises. Mis disculpas!

**Jade Palace, Early April (Approx. 6:00 p.m.)**

They watched.

And watched.

And…watched.

What they were watching was and had been for the last few weeks the main attraction in the small dining room, specifically around dinnertime: the usual glaring contest between Po and Tigress that signified a mind-to-mind argument.

It usually began like this: the Five and Po would be sitting around the table, talking, laughing, eating noodles, etc. Usually a conversation on something or other would be going on, in between the usual good-natured bickering that was exchanged between the six warriors. After a while, the four of the Furious Five that _didn't_ have the blessing-curse of mind-speak would notice that both Po and Tigress had dropped out of the conversation and were glaring at each other, obviously arguing in their connected minds about something stupid.

It wasn't that they hadn't had stupid fights before- everyone remembered the whole fiasco that happened when Shifu told them about the Eye of the Dragon- but there had been more and more lately, due to the fact that neither Po nor Tigress could stop the mind connection.

There were a few exceptions to this rule, however: it didn't work unless they were within twenty feet, and they could block each other for a time, though the strain on them was enormous. Since their rooms were right next to each other, separated only by a thin layer of white papyrus, the Dragon Warrior and Lotus Tiger had moved their respective beds to either end, just so they could get some sleep without the other butting in every few seconds with some random thought (ex: 'I'm hungry,' or 'Why can't I sleep?' etc.).

Suddenly, Tigress slammed her fist down on the on the table, making everybody jump. "Oh, that is _it_!"

"Tigress-" Po started, but the Yin stood up, slammed her chair back into the table, and stalked towards the door.

"I'm going to train!" she growled, before slamming said door hard enough to make the table rattle.

They watched her go, her tail lashing furiously back and forth. "Po!" Viper chastised. "What did you say?"

"Yeah, man, that was intense," Monkey agreed. "What were you fighting about?"

"Nothing! I just said it'd be really cool if her vest black instead of red, and then she went all commando on me!"

"She's just stressed," Viper said comfortingly. "After all, it can't be pleasant to have someone butting in on your thoughts all the time."

"Yeah, tell me about it." He rubbed his head, as if he had a headache (which he probably did), then said, "I should go talk to her or something."

The others exchanged glances. "I don't think that's such a good idea…" Crane said hesitantly.

"Aw, come on," he said, standing up and walking over to the door. "It's me and Tigress. What could go wrong? Don't answer that." And with that, he shut the door.

All of the others sighed. This could not end well.

KFP

Po walked into the training hall, knowing she was in there even before he opened the door by the noises of shouts and splintering wood.

As he opened the door, he caught the sight of an orange blur, before one of the Wooden Warriors' heads came flying off. He gulped. "Uh…Master Tigress?" he said tentatively.

She stopped beating the crap out of the poor hunks of wood and glanced at him. "Stay where you are," she ordered.

He understood. If he got any closer, they'd be within range for the mind connection.

She aimed one last punch at the Wooden Warrior, then turned to him. "What do you want?" she said, her hands on her hips and her tail lashing just as angrily as when she'd stormed out of the room.

"Just…want to apologize is all." He glanced around nervously, praying to the gods that she wasn't about to kill him.

She sighed, and suddenly, the mask she always wore had dropped. She took a few steps forward. _As do I._

He blinked in surprise, then went a little further forward himself. _This sucks, huh?_

_Completely. I can't get a moment's rest with you in my head, and when you're not I feel…strange._

_Yeah. It's so weird. Like, lonely, or something._

They were now barely a few feet away from each other. Suddenly, Tigress closed the gap by pulling the panda into a hug. _"How are we going to do this?"_ she asked, both in her mind and through her words. "_We can't stop fighting. We can't even eat together without even wanting to kill each other. What are we going to do?"_

_I don't know,_ he answered.

They stayed like that for a while, slightly awkward. After all, Tigress had only kissed him once, and that had been very brief. They weren't exactly all-stars at the whole romance thing, to say the least.

Suddenly, there was a creak as the door to the training room opened again, this time with Master Shifu behind it. Instantly, they broke apart, and even went as far as to go to different sides of the room.

Master Shifu stared for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "I have received a message."

"A message, Master?" Tigress said, expertly keeping her voice normal.

"Yes. The other four are already waiting in the Hall of Heros."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Po wondered aloud.

"Probably because all of our bad news comes from messages," Tigress answered. "Who is the letter from, Master?"

"I haven't opened it yet. However, I do know the name of the letter's writer. It's from a Kung-Fu warrior named Xun Wei." **(A/N: Xun means 'Fast' and Wei means 'Mighty.')**

At his words, both Po's and Tigress' eyes narrowed. Shifu glanced up at them, and noted their expressions. "I take it you know him?"

"Oh, I know him, all right," Po said, his voice anything but excited.

"I do, as well," Tigress growled. "That is, assuming it's the same Xun Wei for both of us."

"He's a short little rabbit with wacko ears," Po said, putting his fingers up behind his head to imitate rabbit ears- or devil horns.

"Yep, that's him," Tigress said grimly.

Shifu beckoned with his hand. "Please follow."

As they came within the twenty-foot range, both of the warriors' minds instinctively reached out towards each other, trying to establish a connection. They each met a resistance there that they quickly pulled away from; they were blocking each other, each for their own reasons.

Neither of them looked at each other as they followed their master down the hall.

The other four were standing in the Hall of Heroes, lined up from smallest to tallest, as usual. As Shifu walked in they bowed slightly and murmured "Master."

Shifu bowed back. "Po, Tigress." He nodded them to their places in the line, which they took, standing side by side.

"As you know, I've received another letter," he said. There was an uncomfortable shuffling among the six and a number of winces. "Yes, I know. Nothing good ever comes from receiving one of them. However, it is of course our duty, and all things considered, it's usually crucial that we read them…" He quickly opened the small scroll and read allowed:

"'A Summons from The Southern Valley Court of Heavenly Wisdom." Everyone exchanged glances; someone was being summoned for some sort of court hearing? "A trial is to be held concerning the murder of Xiao-ping Sonofnone. **(A/N: That's an old term for someone who has no parents, thus 'Son of none.' Also, Xiao-ping means 'Small Peace.')**" At this, Tigress stiffened. "Said murderer, by name of Master Tigress, is to appear within twelve days of this notice before the Southern Valley Court of Heavenly Wisdom, headed by Xun Wei. If Master Tigress does not stand before the Court at the appointed time, the Court will be forced to come to the household and exact the punishment that would have been dolled out had the accused been found guilty, which is in this case execution by burning.'" Shifu finished reading and looked up at his students, five of who were staring in shock.

"So…you're not going to go, right, Tigress?" Crane said eventually.

"Yeah, let them come. We can take a couple of stupid court officials," Monkey said.

Tigress looked up from where she had been staring at the floor. "I will go," she said quietly.

Everyone but Po and Shifu gasped. "But Tigress- you're not a murderer!" Viper said.

Tigress did not respond.

"Tigress?" her friend said, worried.

Tigress didn't look at her. "Master, if you could explain without me, I believe my time would be better sent in the training hall."

Shifu hesitated, and then nodded. "Go ahead."

"Uh- Master? Can I go, too?" Po said, half raising his hand.

Shifu nodded once again, and Po ran after the Tiger.

"Master Tigress?" he said, once they were out of earshot of the others.

She didn't answer, but under the block around her mind he could sense her roiling emotions.

"Tigress? Uh…are you okay with him telling them about, you know."

"Let him tell," she said flatly, turning around. "Let him tell them. Let him tell the whole damn world that Master Tigress is a murderer."

Po was surprised. Tigress never cursed. Ever. "But you're not, you're-"

"You think it matters?" she said harshly. "No one's going to care if it was an accident or not. Xun Wei will make sure of that."

"But-"

"I need to train, Po. If you don't mind, I'd like to do so by myself." And with that, she turned back around and walked away, leaving the panda standing there in the hallway by himself.

**A/N: Wow, I'm starting off with a short chapter, huh? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm tired and I want to sleep tonight. So adios for now, mis amigos. Again, sorry if I never actually finish this, but I will try.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Okis, people, I probably won't be posting as fast as I did the last story, considering that I _do_ have a life outside of . And I can't guarantee anything on the lengths. Again, sorry, but that's the way Monkey's almond cookie crumbles.

**Jade Palace, Early April (Approx. 6:30 p.m.)**

Shifu walked into the training room, quietly closing the door behind him. Tigress was once again beating up one of the Wooden Warriors, mercilessly reducing it to a pile of bloodied splinters. "KYAH!" She smashed through the wood with a spinning kick. "HEIS!"

Blood spattered the wooden floor, evidence of Tigress' current lack of self-preservation. She was so focused on destroying the Warrior that she had pushed herself beyond physical pain. However, he also knew that when she did this, emotional pain was eating away at her inside.

He was suddenly 'treated' to a sight of another student, doing exactly the same thing. Tigress' form was suddenly spotted black and dusky gold, and her regular black pants and red vest turned to a simple pair of violet breeches.

He shook his head to rid himself of this vision, and then decided to talk to her now would not only be futile, but also dangerous. He turned around and left without a sound, the tiger master not even knowing that he had been there.

KFP

Tigress let out one more "KO!", and then took a few steps back, her knuckles dripping blood. She was breathing heavily, and suddenly, she let out a roar of frustration.

"Let- me- feel- pain!" she shouted, punching one of the spikes on the busted warrior.

Nothing. Blood trickled from the flesh wound, but the metal did not penetrate the fused, broken, and re-fused bone. Worst of all, the nerves in her paw had been so badly abused that she couldn't feel the pain that should have made her want to scream.

She growled in frustration and tried again. And again. And again.

She stopped after fifteen attempts. Glaring at the spikes, she felt like screaming in anger. Why? Why couldn't she feel it? Was she really this much different from everybody else, so much that she couldn't feel pain.

Suddenly, she threw herself full-force into the obstacle course, fighting with all her might, as if doing so would somehow clear her head. But, no matter how hard she fought, she was still getting beat black and blue. She knew that her focus was all off, that her concentration was nowhere near what it should be and that if she attempted the obstacle course now, she would pay; but still, she persisted, determined to make it out. She needed to accomplish something. She needed to train, even if it meant that she was going to possibly die trying.

When she finally came out on the other side of the obstacle course, she had a black eye, two-dozen burns, and numerous bruises on every part of her body, not to mention six broken bones. Not even the Swinging Clubs had ever beat her that bad.

And yet… she was filled with some sort of sick, perverse joy that made her laugh as she lay on the ground, bleeding. She had accomplished what she had aimed for: she'd felt something. She wasn't numb anymore. And even being in pain (which she was) was much better than that horrible feeling of nothingness. She closed her eyes and laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world

"Master Tigress?"

She opened her eyes, startled. Two worried green eyes stared back at her. "Hey, Master Tigress, are you all right?"

She stopped laughing. "Fine. Just…fine." She immediately blocked her thoughts from the panda and sat up despite her bruised arms.

Po looked at her doubtfully. "Uh- considering how bad you just had your butt kicked, I'd say that you _aren't _fine." He offered her a hand, which she took.

She stood up with his help, coughing and spitting out blood. "Thank you, Dragon Warrior," she said formally, about to walk away.

"That letter really got to you, huh?" Po said to her turned back.

Her eyes narrowed, her back stiffened. "I'm fine."

She felt a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off. "Leave me be, Po," she hissed.

"Tigress-"

"_Leave me be!_"

As she walked away, tail lashing with fury, Po saw something on the floor beside him. He reached down and picked it up.

It was a tooth. A small fang, to be exact. Sharp and pointed, like a flattened cone. As he held it in his paws, he had the strange sense that Tigress hadn't minded losing it.

KFP

Back in the kitchen, the other four were talking among themselves about the contents of the letter, and what Shifu had told them.

"I still can't believe Tigress would ever…" Viper said quietly.

"I know," Mantis agreed. "But if Shifu's telling the truth-"

"Why would he lie?" Crane said. "Especially about something like this."

"But Tigress-"

"Tigress what?" said a voice from behind.

All four of them whirled around, only to see the feline standing in the doorway, black eyes and all.

Viper was the first to find her voice. "What happened to you?"

Tigress didn't answer, only put her now-cold soup bowl in the washbin.

Monkey was the next. "We were just-"

"Talking," she finished for him.

They glanced guiltily at each other.

"Tigress-" Viper said, but the tiger master cut her off.

"Did you think I didn't know you'd be talking about me?" she demanded. "I'm not a fool."

"We never said you-"

"And did you assume I couldn't hear you? You were talking so loud I could hear you all the way down the hall." She turned to look at Viper. "And yes, you should believe it, because Master Tigress _did_ kill someone." Somehow, she was angered even more by the stunned, almost horrified looks on their faces that they were attempting to hide. She _hated_ the way they tried to cover it up, as if she was some child that didn't understand what she'd done wrong. "Don't bother attempting to spare my feelings," she hissed, "because I don't need your sympathy." She turned on her paws and left, slamming the door so hard it almost flew clean off its hinges.

Everyone looked guiltily around at each other. "So…what now?" Viper said in a small voice.

"We can't just let her go," Mantis agreed. "That Xun guy is going to kill her!"

"Mantis is right," Crane said. "So why does she want to go to the trial?"

If she'd had shoulders, she would have shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's a protection of the Valley; if she goes, the Court won't come here to find her and hurt the villagers in the process."

There was a silent agreement to this. "So what do we do?" Monkey said eventually. "She won't talk to us…"

Suddenly, Viper rose her head up. "No," she said, emerald eyes smiling, "but she might talk to Po."

**Sacred Peach Tree (approx. 7:45 p.m.)**

"Sorry, guys, but she won't talk to me, either."

Po couldn't help but feel a little guilty at saying this, but he knew it to be true; Tigress wouldn't even come within fifty feet of him, much less talk to him. He tried to sit back down to meditate (or attempt to, anyway), but Mantis immediately jumped on his shoulders and turned him back around. Po tried to knock the bug off, annoyed, but Mantis easily dodged the attack and leapt back onto Crane's hat.

"Po, couldn't you at least try?" Viper said pleadingly.

"Aw come on, guys," he said, his arms spread helplessly. "If she won't talk to you, then why would she talk to me?"

The glanced around at each other. "Well, we thought…" Viper said in a hesitant voice.

"That maybe you could make her?" Crane finished.

Po looked at them, confused. "Make her? Last time I tried to make Tigress do anything, she threw me down the palace stairs."

"Dude, they're trying to say that because she's got the hots for you, you can make her talk," Monkey said bluntly.

Po stared at them, surprised. "I don't know if you guys have noticed, but Tigress flips out every time I even go near her! She's not gonna talk to me, and even if she did it's not like she'd _let_ me tell you what she said anyway."

"If anyone could do it, it'd be you," Mantis pointed out.

"Thanks, but it's not going to happen. Come on, guys, she'd totally _murder_ me if I tried! Like, you know, blood everywhere?"

"Please, Po?" Viper begged. "We're all really, really worried about her."

He looked around at their faces, which were all mirroring the same expression: big, pleading eyes and their heads all slightly tilted the same direction, even Mantis'. Po sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll give it a shot."

**Training Hall (approx. 8:00 p.m.)**

Po pushed open the door hesitantly, listening to the sounds of numerous thumps and shouts.

He glanced towards the Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion, which was where Tigress usually practiced. Surprisingly, he didn't see her there, or in any of the other arenas. Where was she?

Suddenly, a loud kihai **(A/N: that's a Japanese term for a Karate shout. I'm not sure if the spelling is right, and I have no clue what it's called in Chinese, sorry!)** from the side drew his attention. He glanced over to see Tigress beating the crap out of the Adversary. That in itself was a staggering sight, but what made it ten times worse was that the Adversary was actually _winning._ Tigress' focus was obviously not at all where it should have been. He glanced down at his paws nervously. Why had he agreed to this again?

Without warning, the Adversary suddenly bounced back at Tigress, knocking her flat on her back. It was a blow she should have blocked easily, and yet she had not. She hit her head on the floor in frustration and let loose a string of Mandarin curses that would have made a sailor recommend confession.

When she opened her eyes and began to stand up, she finally caught sight of Po. She didn't say anything for a moment, after which she stood up and turned back to face the Adversary.

"The other sent you here, didn't they?" she said, after throwing a few punches.

Well. No point in denying it now. "Uh…well, yeah. Kind of."

"And they're expecting that you'll somehow romance me into telling you what's wrong, and then you'll go back and tell them?"

He didn't answer that time, but just kind of shuffled his feet nervously.

"They have to start thinking of some better plans," she said, aiming a swift kick at the Adversary.

"Or you could just tell me," he said hopefully.

She rolled her eyes. "Right."

"Uh…so what's up with you, anyway?" As an afterthought, he added, "I promise I won't tell them. I'll just say you refused and all that."

"And I should tell you because why?" she said coolly, knocking the Adversary against the wall. Said training tool immediately bounced back, catching the side of her as she tried to move out of the way and knocking her on her back again.

He ran over to her. "Master Tigress! Are you okay?"

She growled and sat up. "You mean other than my pride?" she winced and pressed a paw to her arm, which had been broken earlier that day and had just been hit again.

"Yeah. Other than that."

She was about to get up when she stopped for a moment, considering his offer. She needed to vent, and he was willing to listen.

"It's simple," she said flatly. "It's too simple. That's the whole problem."

"Uh…okay, what?" he said, still obviously confused.

Resigned to the fact that she wasn't getting out of this, she crossed her legs and, quite suddenly, opened her mind to him.

_Orphans can get lucky or not when it comes to adoption,_ she told him. _Some of us end up learning Kung Fu with the greatest master in China. Others become village people or farmhands. Xun Wei was taken in by a prestigious family that practiced both Kung Fu and politics. He has power both ways._

Po didn't respond. He knew all too well the kind of power that Xun Wei had- how he had almost been born charismatic and devious.

_ Xun Wei was the best friend of Xiao-ping, the rabbit I killed,_ she continued, her voice turning harsh. _Now he's going to persecute me…after all this time, I never would have thought…_ She shook her head, as if to clear it, then stood up again and faced the Adversary.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. _You know, we could try the obstacle course together,_ Po told her.

She eyed him doubtfully. _The first time you did it, you almost died. I'm getting beaten by a dummy filled with sand._

_Yeah, but we totally rock when we fight together. You remember those boars we kicked?_

She considered it for a moment, before she said, _if you die I'm not paying for a funeral._

_ Deal._

They both turned and faced the obstacle course. "On the count of three," Tigress growled aloud. "One- two-"

Po cheered and ran in even before she hit three. She face-pawed, and then took off after him.

The Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion were the first challenge, usually Tigress' forte. It was not so today, however; she only managed to dodge the first few before one hit her on the side of the head, only just missing her temple and nearly knocking her out.

Po felt the ghost-pain in his face and turned to where Tigress was struggling to get back to her feet. Dodging the clubs, he ran back to her and helped her up. She spat out blood and was about to thank him for her rescue before another club wacked him in the back, catapulting them both into the jade tortoise.

They banged around inside the stone shell for about fifteen seconds before they finally came to a stop. Unfortunately, this 'stop' was with Tigress lying right on top of Po.

They both went a shade of red that Michael Angelo would've killed to get his hands on. "Don't- move-" Tigress breathed.

"Uh- why?" Po said, somewhat desperate to get the tiger master off of him.

"Any sudden movements will set it off again," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Give me one moment." Closing her eyes, she managed to stand up, balancing precariously on the ever-shifting mass that was Po's stomach.

The panda, meanwhile, was in a good amount of pain and was saying in a voice that was somewhere between a hoarse whisper and a squeak "Master Tigress, that kinda hurts-"

Suddenly, she pushed herself into the air, landing on one of the wooden warriors. Her natural sense of feline balance still remained, even if all of her other skills were currently out of use.

Po clambered out of the bowl. "You- could have- just- climbed out-" he panted, clutching at his stomach.

"Come on," she said, beckoning with a paw. "You can battle the Wooden Warriors, right?"

Po gulped. "Uh- well-"

She rolled her eyes. "Climb up here."

He tried. He really did. But as he attempted to climb onto the nearest Wooden Warrior, he slipped and fell…right into the gauntlet.

Tigress watched him get battered and knocked around a few moments, before sighing and muttering, "This was a bad idea," and jumping down into the forest of Warriors.

She was quickly knocked around a bit before finding her bearings and keeping still. Suddenly, from beside her, Po said, "Hey, Tigress? A little help?"

"Keep still," she said. Moving so that she was back to back with him, she said, "Get ready…and…GO!"

They began to make their way through the gauntlet, battling in this fashion. Tigress felt her pride begin to return as she realized that, working together, they were positively murdering the Wooden Warriors.

They stumbled onto the Field of Fiery Death. There wasn't any time to catch their breath, however, because instantly they had to dodge around the bursts flame that erupted from the floor.

Suddenly, Tigress saw the floor begin to heat right under where Po was standing, indicating a flare. She ran forward and threw him out of the way, narrowly missing the flames herself. Po caught a Seven-Talon Ring, keeping himself above the ground.

There was now another problem: Tigress was stuck alone in the middle of the Field, and by the way the heat was building under her paws, she could tell that within moments it would be time for the random entire-platform burst, and the only escape option- the nearest ring- was currently inhabited by the panda. She cursed in Mandarin again. "Po!"

The Dragon Warrior saw what was about to happen. Rocking the Ring, he began to swing near Tigress, getting closer and closer each time. "Almost- there-"

Suddenly, he caught the tiger master's hand, swinging her out of harm's way just as the field erupted beneath her.

They quickly swung their way through the seven rings, much like the village children's monkey bars (which were named after the famed primate, of course), landing fairly uninjured on the other side of the course.

"Woo-hoo!" Po cheered. "That was AWESOME!"

Tigress smirked slightly, pleased. Suddenly, she had the strangest idea- something to show her gratitude to the Dragon Warrior for helping her.

"Thank you, Po," she said, and then kissed him briefly on the lips.

The panda stumbled back in shock as she broke the contact. His mouth struggled to work, but no words came out. She grinned a little wider.

"_Ah-hem_."

They both whirled around, seeing a very red Master Shifu and his four gleeful students.

Tigress' eyes went wide with shock. Grasping for anything to return the situation to normal, she quickly bowed, stuttering "Master."

Shifu was just as at a loss for words. After a few moments, he said, "Eh- Well done, you two. I am- er- impressed." He cleared his throat. "I simply came to inform you that we will be leaving tomorrow morning."

Tigress looked beyond him. "Of course, Master. But may I ask why they followed you?"

Shifu chuckled slightly at that. "I found them outside the door. I believe it would be safe to assume that you were spying?" he said, turning to his four students.

"Well…perhaps a little," Viper admitted.

"I see. Well, in any case, you may all retire to your rooms for the night. Er- your _own_ rooms," he said, obviously directing it at the two flushed masters.

"_Baba!_" Tigress muttered angrily under her breath, as the other four started laughing. Po went red as a tomato.

"No, Maser Shifu, we wouldn't- I mean, I wouldn't- but-"

"Calm yourself, Po. I was merely stating that should you have any other intentions…"

This, of course, did nothing to stifle the laughter of the others. As they walked out of the training room, Po said to Tigress, _Your father's even more embarrassing than mine._

Tigress closed her eyes and groaned. This was going to be a long rest of her life.

If she lived that long.

**A/N: See? Longer chapter that time! Sorry for the long wait, please don't murder me!**


	3. Chapter 3 Flashback Minichapter

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, nor do I own the furry Po, the awesome Tigress, the joking Monkey, the shy Crane, the kind Viper, the sarcastic Mantis, or their very BA (in a strict kind of way) teacher, Master Shifu.

**Jade Palace, Around April 3 (time unknown)**

Tigress let out a small growl, twitching in her sleep. After a moment, she growled again, followed by a yelp and a small whimper. The whimpering grew louder, until it was a low keening cry, barely audible. It was a sound the tiger master hadn't made in long time, and the only reason she made it now was because she was, in fact, seeing in front of her a time that she had long ago shoved away…

_ "Do you want to play?"_

_ The rabbit slowly backed away. "Wh-who are you?"_

_ She stepped out of the shadows, tilting her head slightly. "I'm Lien-hua, but no one ever calls me that." __**(A/N: That means 'Lotus Flower.')**_

_ He frowned. "You don't look like a lotus. How'd you get your name?"_

_ She blinked. "I named myself. Didn't you?"_

_ "No. I'm Xiao-ping. So if people don't call you your name, what do they call you?"_

_ She glanced down at the ground. "They call me a monster. But- but I'm not! Really!" She said it as if she were trying to convince herself more than him. "Really."_

_ At her words, he began to back away. "You're the monster?"_

_ "I won't hurt you! I promise!"  
>He looked scared. "Don't come any closer!"<em>

_ "Xiao-ping! Where are you? Xiao-ping!" Both animals glanced over at the staircase, which had claw marks and was broken in many places. There were footsteps; someone was coming up the stairs._

_ Xiao-ping took a few steps farther back, a silhouette against the glaring white of the window. "Stay away from me!" he yelled at Tigress._

_ "I just want to play. Here!" She bounded forward, laughing. "See? You're it!" She hit him lightly in the chest._

_ Xiao-ping flew backwards at the touch, stumbling as he tried to regain his ground. Suddenly, his short little legs hit the window-ledge. He let out a small cry as he tripped, fell. There was a moment's pause, and then, very lightly, a small thump, just underneath the window._

_ Lien-hua stared, surprised, at the spot where Xiao-ping had been. After a moment, she ran over to the window. "Xiao-ping?" She looked down._

_ A small, white body was lying on the stone beneath the window. It's neck was twisted at an odd angle, and as Lien-hua watched, a ball that had been kicked that way hit the rabbit. A sickening snap! was heard as the ball made contact, and something white and long jabbed through the flesh. Blood began to bubble out, staining the white fur red._

_ Liean-hua stumbled back, retching. Even so young, she knew that what she had seen was not normal, that Xiao-ping's body shouldn't have twisted that way. She fell to her knees, feeling like something was strangling her, was cutting off her breath, was choking her and making the world go black-_

Tigress jerked up in bed, tearing at the small blanket that was wrapped around her throat with her claws. Gasping for air and massaging her throat, she half-walked, half-dragged herself to the door.

She ran as quietly as possible through the barrack hallways, bursting out into the fresh, cool night air. She stumbled down the steps and threw up into the grass.

** A/N: Alright, as you can see, that chapter was VERY short. However, it was not, as many of you are undoubtedly thinking, a filler chapter. This did have a point.**

** You see, my English teacher is always going on about symbolism and the meaning of a certain paragraph, etc., etc. I will give three of Monkey's virtual almond cookies to the person that comes up with the best answer on why I included this chapter. Thanks and sorry again!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: My answer to the question posted in the previous chapter was to show that these feelings and memories Tigress has repressed for so long are coming back faster than she can handle, both physically and emotionally (thus the vomiting). At the same time, her subconscious is also trying to figure out her emotions by playing this all through her head while she dreams. She is attempting to solve this in her mind, though in truth she must confront this in real life.

The award of 3 cookies goes to **Tremomaru**, for coming up with the best answer. So… here you are, girl (at least, I assume you're female): ({}) ({}) ({}).

Yeah, I know. My cookies suck. I also award one to **Noordinarywriter** because she asked: ({}) (don't kill me please!)

Finally, to HiddenBlade: you see a loophole? Do tell; I'm still working on the whole courtroom scene in my mind at the moment, and I'd love your imput!

**Jade Palace, Around April 3 (6:00 a.m.)**

Po didn't like gongs. He thought that maybe it was the way they looked: all round and yellowy, like a noodle bowl that hadn't been cleaned in three days.

Or maybe it was the way they sounded; a deafening crash that rumbled like thunder and made his ears hurt.

It might have been a traumatic childhood experience that had created his deep hatred of gongs, or perhaps an irrational phobia or gongs. It could even have been some sort of mental trip.

BONGNGNGNG!

Or maybe, just maybe, it could possibly be that a gong was what woke him up every morning.

He rolled out of bed, late once again (Master Shifu had, by now, stopped giving out punishments for it- after all, he'd already cleaned every part of the Palace within the first weak), and stumbled out into the hallway, where everyone else was already waiting.

Or… almost everybody.

"Tigress?" Shifu said, walking over to the tiger master's door and opening it. The room was vacant. He stared at it for a moment, not believing his eyes, before he groaned and said, "Foolish girl."

Everyone was surprised by this. It was not often (though it was occurring more frequently now) that Shifu would call Tigress his daughter, and it was most certainly the first time in recent memory that anyone had called the tiger master foolish.

"She's gone off on her own," Shifu said, still facing the doorway. "Most likely, she was attempting to protect us from Xun Wei by going by herself."

"She could be anywhere by now!" Viper said worriedly.

"Perhaps," Shifu said, running through everything in his mind, "but it stormed last night, shortly after midnight. Tigress can't stand thunder…" he trailed off.

_ "Baba!" a voice shrieked, over the sounds of thunder. "Baba! Baba!"_

_ Shifu's huge ears caught the sound, and he quickly climbed off of his small, hard bed, hurrying down the barrack hallway to the small room in the middle._

_ Tigress was sitting on her bed, cowering in the corner with her paws clapped over her ears. "Baba!" she cried out again._

_ Shifu could understand her fear; with as good of ears as she (and he) had, the thunder could be excruciating. The only difference was while his ears were big enough so that he could fold them down, her were not._

_ He sighed and sat down on the bed with her. "Hush, Tigress!" he commanded. The small girl didn't listen, only wailed harder._

_ He needed something to distract her. Casting his mind desperately around- would she stop screaming?- he remembered the discussion he and Oogway had been having earlier that day._

_ "Hush," he said again, gentler this time. "I have some news from Master Oogway."_

_ Tigress looked up at him, the storm temporarily forgotten. Oogway always had something interesting to say. Slowly, she took her paws from her ears. "News, Baba?"_

_ "Don't call me that," he said sharply. Then, in a kinder tone, "Yes, news. We will have a new student soon."_

_ Tigress gasped. "A new student? Who?"_

_ "She is the daughter of a friend of mine."_

_ "A girl! What's she like?_

_ "She is a snake that happens to have a talent with ribbons- and, as it would happen, Kung Fu. She's about your age. Other than that, I don't know much."_

_ Tigress squirmed excitedly. "Really, Ba- Master? Another student, a girl?" She grinned, and then yelped again with the next clap of thunder, putting her paws over her ears._

_ "Yes. Now, try and get some sleep. Wrap your blanket around the top of your head if you need to." He stood up and walked to the door._

_ "Master?" a small voice from behind him said._

_ He turned once more. "Yes?"_

_ "May I- may I come sleep in your room? I'm scared."_

_ For a moment, he was sorely tempted to say yes. Then, he remembered Tai Lung doing the exact same thing._

_ He'd given in that storm and had allowed the boy to come with him._

_ He shook his head. "No, Tigress. You must be brave. You _are_ a big girl, aren't you?" Before she could answer, he turned around again and closed the door._

_ Tigress whimpered once again as the thunder clapped outside, then took her master's advice and wrapped her blanket around the top of her head, blocking out the sounds. Curling up once more despite the cold, she fixed her mind on the thought of another student- a girl, like her. Perhaps they could even be friends._

_ She'd never had a real friend before. And the closest she ever came to having one, she'd ended up…_

_ She shivered. No. She couldn't think about that now. Not with the rain, the thunder. Not in the middle of a storm, where it was cold and dark and she was all alone._

Shifu shook himself out of the memory. "If she started at midnight, she couldn't have gotten far before the storms hit. I'm guessing she's probably curled up in an alleyway somewhere in the village." He turned back around and faced them. "We need to find her. Now."

Everyone ran to the stairs and the cliff. "Go!" Shifu ordered, standing at the top. A second later, he'd leapt off the edge of the cliff. He was shortly followed by Crane, Mantis, and Viper.

"Go, Po!" Monkey said, and pushed the panda down the stairs.

"Wha- WAAA!" (Thump. Bump. Thump.)

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he managed to land on his feet. "Whoa! That was cool, did you see-" he turned to the side, looking for Tigress, and was instantly reminded of his purpose.

He hurried through the streets of the town, which was still not-yet awake. Dawn was just beginning to stretch across the sky, a pale rose-pink. "Tigress!" he whisper-shouted (aka, tried to shout while simultaneously whispering so as not to wake up the neighbors). "Tigress!"

He literally ran all over the town looking for her. He met up with the others several times, and none of them had seen the missing master, either.

It was when he'd finally came by his dad's noodle shop when he felt it: something in the back of his mind, like a small tickling. He turned towards the direction that it was coming from.

A small alleyway was to the side of the noodle shop. He quickly ran into it, looking around.

He scanned the area, back and forth. Nothing, nothi-

There! He spotted a striped orange flank in the shadowed corner.

"Tigress!" He ran over and knelt down beside her. She was curled up into a tiny ball, her fur wet and her paws clamped over her ears. He looked over his shoulder as a strange sound echoed through the alley, before he realized that the noise was coming from the tiger master herself. It was a quiet, startling sort of whimper…

_Tigress sank to the ground, clutching at her paw and crying._

_ Shifu walked over to her. "What is it now?" he said sharply._

_ She whimpered and managed to say, "My- my paw-"_

_ He sighed and, despite her cries, forced her paw open. He examined said paw before he said brusquely, "Oh, for the gods' sakes, Tigress, it's only a broken finger. Stand up."_

_ She shakily got to her feet, still crying. Shifu tore a piece of fabric from his cloak and picked up a splinter of wood from the ground. He quickly splinted the finger and said, "Again."_

_ "But Master-!"_

_ "Again!"_

_ She nodded and dried her tears. Steadying herself, she eyed the two swinging clubs (little did she know that in the future, more clubs would be added until there were six in all). After a moment's hesitation and a bit of resentment towards her master, she jumped onto the twirling, uneven ground and began to fight the clubs._

_ She had to concentrate, which was why it was easier to shove the memory of something else breaking- something snapping like a twig- to the back of her mind…_

…"Tigress?"

A voice gently drew her from her flashback. A big, warm paw was shaking her shoulder lightly. She opened her eyes.

"Master Tigress, you're okay!" Po said, relief flooding his features.

She found that somehow, she was too tired, too…weak… to answer verbally. So instead, she said in her mind, _I'm fine, Po._ It came out more irritated than grateful. She tried to sit up, but found that she could not. She wasn't sure whether it was the icy water on her fur, or the fatigue that came from spending a night in a trash-strewn alleyway, exposed to the elements.

_No, you're not,_ the panda admonished. Suddenly, he turned around and, before she could ask what he was doing, he picked her up and hoisted her onto his back.

_Po- stop- let me down!_

_ No._

_ Put me down now!_

_ C'mon, Tigress, you look like you're gonna pass out again. Let go of some pride and let someone help you for once._

She growled, but found that arguing was giving her a headache, so she slumped against his back. After a few moments, she found herself involuntarily sinking into him, her body adjusting to fit his. If she hadn't been so tired, she probably would've killed the panda, but at the moment she just wanted to fall asleep then and there.

She didn't know how much later it was that Po came to a stop and gently lowered her to the ground.

Into her bleary vision came the familiar faces of a her master and the other four. She tried to open her mouth, but once again found that she was too exhausted.

"Are you all right?" Shifu asked urgently. "Are you hurt?"

She mustered the strength to shake her head. "I'm- fine-" she ground out, trying once again to sit up and finding that this time, she was able to do so.

"I can't believe you, Tigress!" Shifu chastised her. "Going off on your own like that- and in a storm, not to mention!"

"It was just a little rain-"

"Then why were you lying in the alley?" Po asked from the side.

She glared at him. "Shut up."

"Frankly, I am astounded by your actions, Tigress. Didn't I raise you to have more sense?" Shifu demanded. "My foolish nuér, why would you do something like this?"** (A/N: This means 'My foolish daughter.' There should be something over the u, but I can't find it on my computer).**

The word had slipped out without him intending to use it, though to him it seemed most natural in the sentence. To everyone else, however, it was a shock; it was the first public display of father-daughter affection since gods-knew-when. To make matters even more surprising, he pulled her into a hug. "Don't you _ever_ do something like this again," he ordered, pulling away from her. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, baba," she said, grinding her teeth.

"Why would you do this?" he asked again, this time expecting an answer.

Tigress growled. "I cannot let the rest of you suffer for my actions."

"So you decided to go alone?" Po said. "That's, like, suicide or something."

She gave him a deadpan look and decided to give him a moment to think about what he'd just said.

"Oh. Oh yeah," the panda said, realizing. "Sorry."

"Tigress, we are going with you," Shifu said sternly. "And we aren't going to allow you to sacrifice yourself or- or pay this debt you insist that you have."

She nodded her head in defeat. "Yes, Master."

Shifu shook his head, annoyed. "Going out in a storm like that. What happened to you again?"

Tigress went a shade of red that even showed through her orange fur. "The rain made it hard to see, and I tripped on something. I must have hit my head."

Shifu sighed, before turning to Po. "You will carry her again."

"But Master, I can walk!" Tigress protested.

"You cannot," he said sternly. "And this is a fitting punishment. For whatever reason, humiliation seams to work much better on you than any form of physical punishment."

"Immagine that," Monkey commented from the side.

Po picked Tigress up again, ignoring her menacing growls, and then resisted the urge to make a jibe when she leaned her head on his shoulder again. They set out at a quick pace through the village, wanting to cover as much ground as possible.

As they left town, Po suddenly heard Tigress murmur sleepily in his mind, _Not exactly hard-core, huh?_

Po had to agree.


	5. Chapter 5 Short Chapter!

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: BTW, last chapter was Day 1, so this chapter will be also, or at least the last part.

_**Unknown time, Valley of Peace**_

_ "Fatso!"_

_ "Weirdo!"_

_ "Heyah, chubby, want some noodles?"_

_ He shrank back, as if the words hurt him physically. A red flush stained his white cheeks, and he could feel tears pooling on his lower eyelids, threatening to pour out._

_ "Fatty!"_

_ The leader of the jeerers was a small rabbit, by name of Xun Wei. He was the adopted son of a prestigious Kung Fu master and political leader. Po had once tried in desperation to overpower him physically, hoping that his size would be to his advantage against the small rabbit. It was not so; the master-in-training had thoroughly kicked his tail and sent him home crying._

_ "You stupid, fat panda," he taunted now. You're so slow, you couldn't catch a tree if it was growing right in front of you!" The crowds laughed. "I mean, look at you!" Xun continued. "You're so fat, it's disgusting._

_ Po winced and didn't retort._

_ "You're so overweight, I bet you eat enough for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all in one sitting!"_

_ He really was crying now; the tears were rolling down his face._

_ "Oh, are you going to cry now?" Xun jeered. "You gonna cry, you big, fat baby?"_

_ Still, he said nothing. Maybe if he didn't respond, they'd go away._

_ "Oh look, the big boy's tearing up!" Xun mocked. "Cry, panda! Go on! Cry!"_

_ "I am!" he shouted furiously, finally snapping._

_ They all laughed. Laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed…_

Po jerked awake, startled. He looked around, wondering where he was. He wasn't at home in his bed, or dozing on one of the tables in the restaurant.

Then he saw the last dying coals of the campfire and the stars above him, and he remembered who and where he was.

He was the Dragon Warrior, defender of China, defeater of the power-hungry Tai Lung and the certifiably insane Lord Shen. He was a hero!

…But still, he couldn't help but feel more than a little shame well up inside him at the memory of the dream. Because, little did anyone know, Po also had some bad history with Xun Wei.

Suddenly, across from him, he saw two red eyes glowing in the dark. Master Tigress was awake.

Neither of them said anything for a long while. After what could have been forever, Po suddenly said, "Tigress, do you think I'm disgusting?"

The red eyes glanced over at him. "Why would you ask that?"

"Just…never mind. Sorry for bugging you." Stupid! Why had he asked _her_ that?

"No, it's fine." There was a moment's silence, before Tigress said, "What do you mean by disgusting?"

"Just sort of the general thing, you know?"

"This is about your weight, isn't it?"

He winced. Ouch, how had she guessed it that fast? "Uh…yeah, kind of."

"No. Of course not."

He felt his hopes rise. "Seriously?"

She didn't answer right away, and when she did, it was in a cautious tone. "You are a hero. You've saved China, you're the Dragon Warrior. What does your weight matter?"

His heart plummeted again. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he said under his breath. It was the same speech his dad had given him a few years ago, albeit with some alterations. He mumbled something almost unintelligible, but her cat's ears heard the words, "-ashamed to be seen-

She growled at the words, and then leapt over the fire. She landed in front of him, one knee on the ground. She took him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye.

"Po. You are an amazing warrior and an even more amazing friend." He looked away, so she gripped him even tighter. "Who was it that defeated Tai Lung? You. Who was it that stopped Shen from taking over China? You. Who was it that broke out of the best-guarded prison in all of China with a only pair of chopsticks and saved my life?" That drew his gaze back to hers. "That was you. _All_ of you. I don't know what prompted you to ask me this," she said, "but I do know that size isn't the most important thing in a fighter." She put her paw on his chest, right over his heart. "Determination, courage, loyalty- _those_ are the things that make the warrior. Not this." Her paw moved from his heart to his stomach. After a moment, she took it away and once again placed it on his shoulder. "You aren't disgusting," she said, her tone more gentle than he'd ever heard it, "and I will _never_ be ashamed of you."

He stared back, wide-eyed, and then nodded. He gave a small, slightly sad shadow of his regular grin and said, "Thanks."

"No problem." She stood up and jumped back over the fire to her spot. "Get some rest; I think we'll be stopping in Páng Hai tomorrow."

"Cool," the panda said. "That's where we were at New Year's, right?"

"Yes. It's my favorite village; Master wants to rent a small boat there to speed up the journey." The conversation had returned to the regular light talk that predominated their usual conversations.

And yet, as they both laid down, both couldn't help but feel the emotions that came from the other. And whereas the panda felt pretty put at ease, the tiger master was nowhere near peaceful. Immediately, she blocked this from him, but not before he'd caught it.

Something was very wrong with Tigress, and while he didn't know what, he was determined to find out. Soon.

**A/N: Wow, short chapter, huh? Sorry.**

** This was basically to show everyone what the relationship between Po and Xun is, and to show that even though Tigress is there for **_**him**_** right now, she's not letting him in enough for him to help **_**her.**_


	6. Chapter 6 Páng Hai again

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. Also, I get most of my Chinese names from .com.

Carmonator- sorry, it's just kind of hard to write and still remain IC… I can't have the characters go all mushy too fast or they'll be OOC.

**April 4, Páng Hai, Day 2 (Approx. 10:00 a.m.)**

Páng Hai was as busy as always, the smell of the salty sea fresh in the morning air.

Shifu had set his students loose in the town, each disguised as a traveler. Tigress had been with Po to begin with, but he'd disappeared in the crowds.

She adjusted the straw hat on her head, which was supposedly to help her complexion. She never understood how some females could stand going through all of this crap. She personally didn't care how her complexion was- she had ORANGE FUR, for crying out loud!- and it had taken Viper a whole hour of begging for allow the tiger master to her to work her makeup magic on the feline. When she had finished, Tigress was barely recognizable. She had, however, drawn the line when the snake had started speculating on how to make her feet appear as if they were bound (which, of course, they weren't; you can't do Kung Fu with bound feet). Her usual red vest and charcoal pants were once again covered by a woman's traveling cloak, just like the last time they were in Páng Hai.

Now she was standing in the middle of the village square, looking for the Po. She could never understand how the big panda always managed to slip away.

She walked quickly through the busy streets, resisting the urge to yell out something along the lines of 'has anyone seen the Dragon Warrior? He's a big panda that knows Kung Fu! You can't miss 'im!'

"Oomph!"

She glanced over in surprise. She'd been so focused on finding the MIA panda that she'd accidentally run into someone. She was about to apologize when the face looking back at her caught her attention: it was a _tiger._ An orange south-China Bengal, to be exact.

"My apologies," she said coolly, giving a short bow and starting on her way.

"Well, you're a strange one," the tiger said from behind her.

Usually, she wouldn't have stopped to talk, but for some reason this tiger intrigued her. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was a south-China tiger (a very _handsome _south-China tiger) that interested her, but nonetheless she turned around. "What does that mean?"

The tiger gave her a devilish glare, which on a lesser girl would have made her legs go week. "Most females- especially female tigers- don't address a man so…casually."

Tigress felt the heat rise to her face. He was right; most women weren't so forward, nor so bold as she was. She supposed she could blame it on lifestyle; after all, she had grown up every day being told to become tougher, stronger. However, she was undercover, and she had to act like a normal young lady would.

"My apologies, sir," she said bowing much deeper this time and making sure to keep her voice kind and generous- something she hadn't had much practice at. "I was not paying much attention- do forgive me." She stayed in the bow, hoping he would go away.

She saw him draw clearer and tracked his movements, wondering if he was going to attack. Suddenly, she felt a paw touch her face, lifting her head. Every muscle in her body tensed; no one had ever touched her in such a… a gentle, even romantic way.

"It is no trouble," the tiger said. "My name is Chéng. It would please me greatly to know yours."

"It's Chow," she answered quickly. "Chow Yen."

"Well, Chow Yen," Chéng said, bowing, "it is truly an privilege to have met such a beautiful woman. Would you do the honor of joining me for the festival tonight?"

"Festival?" Tigress/Chow asked, trying to ignore the heat that rose to her face from the flattery.

"Yes. It's to commemorate the day that a Kung-Fu master, Master Oogway, saved this village five hundred years ago. It's very important to the village, especially with Ching Ming* right around the corner. There are folk dances and food and-"

A chill ran down her spine at the words 'Master Oogway,' and she was reminded of the elderly turtle that had not so long ago passed away, and whom she had always thought of (secretly, of course) as her Ye-Ye **(A/N: that's the Chinese word for 'grandfather.')**.

"I'm sorry, but I already have a- a suitor," she interrupted, her voice much colder than before. It was strange to refer to the panda as a 'suitor,' even though in all truth he was.

"Perhaps. But a woman can have more than one suitor, can she not?" Chéng said.

"I…suppose so," she said, trying not to look as if she had no idea on how all this marriage business worked.

"Then it is official. We shall attend the festival together," Chéng said. Tigress went an even deeper scarlet under her orange fur, this time from anger, and was about to set him straight before Chéng asked, "Who is your other suitor, anyway?"

"Er- his name is... Baatarsaikhan," she invented, the name popping out of her mouth before she even realized just how fitting the name was **(A/N: the name is pronounced "BAA tar sye chan," and it means 'Hero who brings peace.')**

"Really?" Chéng said, sounding amused. "And what does this 'peaceful hero' look like?"

"He's black and white, and he's…big," she said, trying not to give away exact information.

Chéng, however, seemed to have bought it. "A large White Bengal?" he said. He didn't wait for an answer. "Hm. Well, it seems I have my work cut out for me, then. Until tonight, Chow Yen." He bowed once more, shot her another wicked grin, and then turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey, hey, Tigress!" a voice said. She turned around and saw Po cutting through the crowd, holding something in his large paws.

"Don't call me that!" she hissed, once he was close enough. "We're under cover, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. So… what do I call you?"

The words were out of her mouth even before she intended to say them. "Chow Yen."

"Okay! And I'll be, like…the Destroyer of Evil or the Awesome Panda or-"

"Baatarsaikhan," she said, cutting him off.

He looked a little put out at that. "Yeah, but that name's no fun!"

"It's not meant to be fun, and shouldn't you be disguised or something?"

"Yeah, well…not a lot of people know what the 'Dragon Warrior' looks like, so Master Shifu said I could stay like this." He held up the small objects in his paws, and it looked like two paper-wrapped sweets. "You've gotta try these, they're totally awesome!"

She took one and unwrapped it, but didn't eat it. She was still watching the place where Chéng had been; she searched for a flash of orange fur, but the tiger had disappeared into the swirling crowds.

**Later that Night, Festival (approx. 9:30 p.m.)**

The festival was amazing; the folk dances were in full swing, the aromas of good food were rising from the numerous stands around the town square, and the sounds of music combined with the booms from the fireworks display overhead. Everyone was having fun, everyone was enjoying themselves.

Everyone…but her.

Tigress sat on a crate to the side, waiting. Waiting for what, she wasn't quite sure; it had been half an hour since the festival had started, and Chéng had yet to make an appearance. As little experience as the tiger master had in the matter, she wasn't completely ignorant in the ways of love. She wasn't stupid. She knew that she'd been stood up. And she was _furious._

But what could she do? It wasn't as if she could go find Chéng and tell him off; that wasn't what a 'good' woman did. Some part of her was screaming "Screw being a good woman! Go teach that arrogant jerk a lesson!" But another part of her was instructing her to remain calm, stay under cover, don't let your temper get the better of you, etc. The voice telling her all this seemed to be awfully similar to both Shifu's and, strangely enough, Viper's.

Her mind drifted away as she remembered the day she'd first seen the snake. She'd been eight at the time…

_ The front hall of the Jade Palace was lit by numerous flaming lanterns, as it was late at night and no light came from the sky window high above. There were twenty-three of them, flickering as they cast strange shadows on the jade floor; Tigress had counted all them. _

_ "Master, when will they be here?" she asked finally, trying not to sound like a whiny brat… and failing miserably._

_ "Patience, Tigress," Shifu said, standing stoically before the door. Tigress rolled her eyes; Baba- no, _Master _was always so formal._

_ Suddenly, the large doors creaked as the two attendants pushed them open. Two apple-green snakes slithered in. Tigress jumped up with delight, then glanced over at her master, as if asking permission._

_ Said permission was not granted. Shifu took a few steps forward and bowed to the larger, male snake, who bowed back._

_ "Great Master Viper," Shifu said. "It's an honor to see you again."_

_ "As it is you," Master Viper said. Tigress glanced at the smaller snake behind him, and stifled a giggle as the younger viper rolled her eyes. Seeking also to join in the game, the young tiger took on a pompous, formal appearance and walked a few feet to the right and then to the left in an stately strut, imitating her master. The snake laughed silently._

_ The men turned to their respective charges, and immediately both girls regained their respectful airs. "Tigress, would you please show our guest to her room?"_

_ "Yes, Master," she said, bowing. She turned around, and the small snake followed her._

_ "What's your name?" she asked, once they were out of earshot of the men._

_ "Viper," the snake answered,_

_ Tigress wrinkled her nose. "That's a funny name."_

_ "Well, my real name's Lei __**(A/N: 'Flower Bud')**__, but no one calls me that. What's your name? Does your family live here?"_

_ "I'm Tigress," she said. "I haven't got a family."_

_ "Oh sorry," Viper said, sounding guilty at having mentioned something so sad._

_ "It's okay," Tigress said, not wanting to make the new girl feel bad. "Master's my family here, but I haven't got any brothers or sisters."_

_ "Me neither. Hey, I know!" Viper said suddenly, grinning up at her. "_We_ can be sisters!"_

_ "Okay!" Tigress agreed, grinning back. Then, her smile faded. "But you're a snake, and I'm a tiger. We can't be___real _sisters."_

_ Viper shook her head. "Nuh-uh! We don't have to be the same animals to be sisters!"_

_ "We don't?" Tigress said doubtfully._

_ "No! A family is all the people that love you and take care of you. So if we take care of each other, then we're sisters!" She nodded, satisfied._

_ "Okay. Sisters, then." Tigress held out her paw._

_ "Sisters," Viper agreed, and shook it with her tail._

"Tigress? Tigress, you awake?"

The tiger master blinked, jerked from the memory by the realization that someone had been calling her name. She glanced up.

"Oh. Po, it's you."

"Uh, no it's not. I'm… what was my name again?"

She chuckled, mainly at the absolute absurdity of what he'd just said. "It's Baatarsaikhan, but you called me Tigress first, remember?"

"Oh. Dang it." He glanced around a moment, then said, "So why aren't you having fun?"

She was ready with an answer. "I'm not much of a dancer."

"Liar," he said.

"What?"

"Liar," the panda repeated. "You said at the Winter Festival that you loved the folk dances."

She mentally cursed in Mandarin and struggled to come up with another answer.

"Hey, did you get stood up?"

She blinked in surprise; how had he guessed it so quickly? She was about to deny it when she decided to tell the truth for once. "Yes. How did you know?"

"You're sitting on a box during the folk dances, and you love dancing," he said matter-of-factly. "Maybe I'm not a genius, but I'm not an idiot, either."

She gave him a dry smile. "That's debatable."

"Ow! Hey, easy, tiger!"

"Hm. A half-wit and a bad joker. You're quite the Dragon Warrior." When he looked put out, she shook her head. "I'm only teasing, Po."

"Yeah, that's what's scaring me. I didn't know you could joke," he said, grinning to show her he was only pretending to be hurt.

The song ended, and everyone clapped for the performing dancers and for the civilians who had joined in. The musicians soon struck up on another song, and Tigress' ears perked up as she recognized the tune.

"Hey, you know this one?" Po asked.

"Not very well; it's a couple's dance, and I've never had a partner," she admitted. "I don't know any of the steps."

"Neither do I," he said, grinning. He held out a paw to her.

She blinked in surprise, and then shook her head. "No. I-"

"Come on, Tigress, have a little fun." When she still hesitated, he said, "Look, we could all die tomorrow in some big Kung-Fu fight and stuff, so what are you waiting for?"

She had to admit, it was a good point. Since she didn't have an answer, she took his paw and stood up.

He led her to the edges of the crowds, who were watching the dancers. The song was much slower than the others, perhaps even slightly sad.

Po took her paw in one of his, and then put his other one on her waist. She wasn't sure what to do, so she just put her paw on his shoulder. Ever so slightly, they began to sway to the music.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before Tigress said, "Are you angry?"

" 'Bout what?"

"About me waiting for Chéng- that's the tiger that stood me up. I'm not exactly a champion at this-," by _this_, she meant romance, but she didn't exactly feel like saying it, "-but I know the men usually don't appreciate it when the women so much as look at someone else."

He thought about it for a moment. "I guess I'm a little jealous, but I'm not going to go all Kung-Fu on you or anything."

She chuckled. "Good." Another pause locked in between them, almost like a physical barrier. "I was really only waiting for him to set him straight," she said finally. "He was so…arrogant. As if he expected me to fall head over heels for him."

"Yeah, well…some guys are like that. But if you ask me, they're jerks."

She smiled a little. Then the smile faded, and she pulled away. "Please excuse me," she said, her tone suddenly formal. "I- I have somewhere I need to be." She turned around, but, just as he'd done in the training hall two days previous, Po reached out and took her shoulder.

"Come on, don't leave."

She hesitated, and then turned. "You don't mind?" she said softly. "You don't mind being near me?"

"No. Why would I?"

She glanced away. "It seems as if everyone else is avoiding me, and I thought that perhaps you felt the same way."

"The others will get over it soon. I guess they're still kind of in shock, you know?"

She nodded, still not looking at him. Still worried, he took her hand and waist once again.

"Hey, Tigress?" he said, after a few moments. "What's your real name?"

She blinked, startled. "My…real name?"

"Well, yeah. I know you weren't named 'Master Tigress,' so…what were you called before you were a master?"

The question held much more weight than he realized, and Tigress hesitated for a moment. "Most people just called me 'The Monster.'" His eyes widened and he was about to apologize before she cut him off. "No, it's fine. In any case, I obviously didn't like that, so I named myself."

"What was it?" he asked, obviously interested.

The name was on her lips, but she didn't want to just say it. She removed the barriers from around her mind and thought quietly, _Lien-hua._

There was a surprised pause, before she said, _Ironic, isn't it?_

_ Yeah. Kind of creepy- But not in a bad way! I mean-_

_ Po, I get it. I know what you meant._ She smiled.

The night was beautiful. A pristine midnight-blue sky hung above them, sparkling with stars. The music, the scents, the sights, the feelings…everything was perfect.

Po suddenly found himself leaning in, almost as if he'd intended it. Tigress' scarlet eyes widened in surprise, and he thought that maybe he was going to far, but she didn't stop him.

But, as is the law of the world, such perfection cannot last. Their lips had just barely brushed together when a voice said, "Chow Yen! What are you doing?"


	7. Chapter 7 How Chéng lost a Fang Or Two

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: WARNING! There's some crude humor in this chapter, so if you're a wimp about stuff like that, don't read it!

Carmonator- No, seriously, thanks! Your review on the romance in this was my motivation for the last chapter, so don't you dare apologize! If it wasn't for you, that would have turned out way different, and I don't mean different in a good way. I'm seriously grateful for that.

LTspade- this is kind of random, but have you ever seen that McDonald's commercial that has that guy going around asking for what you can buy for a dollar? Your end mark on your review strangely of got me thinking on what two cents can buy… sorry again, like I said, that was random!

**Festival (approx.. 9:50 p.m.)**

"Chow Yen! What are you doing?"

Both Po and Tigress immediately jerked apart, each the color of a tomato. Tigress whirled around to see (who else?) Chéng.

"You're late," she said coldly.

Chéng was surrounded by a small group of friends. "Who is this?" he demanded.

She treated him to a perfect deadpan look and gave him a moment to think about it.

"Is this your other suitor?" he said, as it _finally_ hit him.

"Took you long enough," she replied, crossing her arms, annoyed.

"What- but- He's a panda! You're a panda!" he said to Po.

"Why does everyone think I don't know I'm a panda?" Po said to no one in particular.

Chéng's face contorted into a snarl. "Get away from her!" he ordered, shoving Po backwards.

"Whoa! Hey, buddy, why don't you-"

"Po," Tigress said, cutting him off. "Let me handle this." She took a step forward and looked the other tiger right in the eyes. "Get away from me," she said, her voice almost a hiss. "I don't want you to be my suitor- not now, not ever. And if you have any respect for who I am and what I can do, I won't be seeing you anytime in the near future. Understood?" Her tone was positively icy. Po was forcefully reminded of his first night in the Jade Palace.

Chéng took a few steps back, obviously intimidated. "Who- who are you?"

Tigress was about to make something up when suddenly a shout came through the crowds.

"Tigress! Po!"

The other members of the Furious Five and Master Shifu came running through, knocking festival-goers out of the way.

"What's wrong?" Tigress said, the quarrel immediately forgotten.

"Bandits at the northern port," said Viper, who was also in disguise. "Come on!"

"Po, let's go!" Tigress called over her shoulder. They ran after the others, the crowds parting before them like the proverbial Red Sea.

They reached Páng Hai's north-most port a minute or two later, where the said bandits were looting the ships and tormenting the sailors.

"Go!" Shifu ordered. Without a moment's hesitation, his six students attacked.

The battle was short and fairly simple. Within minutes the seven of them had either a.) tied up with fishing nets or b.) knocked out the thieves, most of whom were thin, mangy-looking wolves or apes. Right before she'd knocked out her last opponent with a spinning kick, Tigress had gotten hit on the left side of her face with saltwater, which stung her eyes and made her disguise makeup run in rivers down her face.

As they looked around now, making sure there weren't any fighters left, she wiped the wet side of her face off with her paw. A moment later, she caught sight of her blurry reflection in the glass of a nearby wealthier shop window: half of her face was still covered by makeup, and the other half was not.

The crowds that had gathered around them stared for a moment, stunned, before someone started to cheer. A loud roaring of approval and gratitude rose up from the villagers, but this escaped Tigress' attention as a male tiger pushed to the front of the crowds.

She walked up to him, not exactly sure what she should be feeling. "Not exactly what you were expecting, was it?" she asked Chéng coolly.

The tiger seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment, before he said, "Well…no, not really, Chow…or Master Tigress, I suppose."

It was her turn to try and find the words to explain herself, but the tiger once again took that right from her.

"Not that you aren't a person of respect, of course, but I thought you were…" he didn't finish.

"That I was what?"

"Well, you know. A real woman."

Something inside her seemed to ring inside her stomach, rather like the echoes of a low, mournful gong. Though the noise around her was deafening, the world seemed to go silent for the tiger master. "A real woman?" she said, her tone low. "What do you mean by that?"

Chéng was not looking so cocky now; he even appeared slightly nervous. "You aren't exactly a- well, you know what I mean."

That was when she snapped. "No I don't!" she roared, finally losing her temper. "I don't know what you mean at all! So _tell me!_"

The crowds had suddenly gone completely and totally silent. Chéng looked around, and seemed to regain his bravado.

"Oh, come on!" he said, his tone suddenly mocking. "You don't actually think you're a _real_ female, do you? You aren't a woman at all! Everyone here knows it!" he looked around, as if trying to garner support. When he found none, he turned even crueler, sneering at her. "You're a master at Kung-Fu, a man's profession."

"What about me, then?" Viper asked, slithering up beside Tigress and twisting her way up the tiger master's arm onto her shoulder. "Are you saying that _I'm_ not a woman, either?"

"Of course not, Mistress Viper," Chéng said, bowing. "You're…different."  
>"Really? How?" the snake challenged, defending her friend.<p>

"Well, you're prettier, for one thing."

The crowd let out a collective "Ooooh!", as if they were the ones who had been injured by this insult. Tigress could feel her paws forming into fists as she struggled to maintain her temper.

Viper smiled, though it was nowhere near sweet. If anything, it was downright menacing- a look that not many people had ever seen on the snake. "Thanks for the compliment. Now, how would you like to die?"

Another "Ohhhh!" from the crowd. Tigress was on the verge of strangling the tiger herself, but reigned herself in and said, "Leave it alone, Viper. He isn't worth it."

She turned to leave, knowing that she was moments away from losing her temper. From behind her she heard Chéng say, "No wonder you're a warrior; you're so male, you probably couldn't get a job as a prostitute."

That was it. Tigress whirled around, intending to knock the living sh** out of Chéng, but someone had already beat her to it. Po had ran forward the instant the words had left Chéng's mouth and had hit him so hard in the face that the poor tiger had been knocked onto his back.

"Don't you EVER say stuff like that about Master Tigress!" Po yelled. Everyone stared; none of them, not even the Five or Shifu, had ever seen the gentle panda fly off the handle like this. "Ever, you hear me?"

Chéng groaned and tried to say something, but Po didn't let him finish. "She's the best Kung-Fu master ever, and she could totally beat you up if she wanted to! She's die-hard and beautiful and totally AWESOME, and don't you_ ever_ forget it!"

The stunned silence remained even after the echoes of his shouts had faded from the harbor. Po took a few steps back, realizing what he had just done, and looked around, slightly nervous.

Tigress walked up to him and bowed. "Thank you, Dragon Warrior," she said, loud enough for the entire wharf to hear. Then she turned to Shifu. "Master Shifu," she said, bowing even lower, "is there a boat ready for us yet?" She tried to remain calm, but in all truth she was anxious to leave in any way possible.

Shifu stared for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "Yes, there is. We should board now, actually." He looked past her, to the still shocked villagers. "Please excuse us for interrupting your festival."  
>"No. Forgive <em>us<em>, Master Shifu," one of the older villages said, bowing. "We are truly sorry for this young tiger's impertinence towards your student, and we beg your pardon." Others echoed this. He also bowed to Tigress. "And we ask forgiveness of you as well, Master Tigress. Rest assured that he will be dealt with accordingly."

"Thank you," she said, bowing back. She appeared to all the villagers present to be completely in control of herself, but on the inside, she was a hurricane of emotions.

Shifu gave his thanks to the village, and then lead his students down the port and onto a small ship. "The sleeping quarters are down below," he said. "I've already paid he captain and the first mate, so you can go in. Get some sleep; we will be at sea for a few days and it'll be best if you are well rested for the morn."

"Yes, Master," the others all murmured. They left, after which Tigress said, "Master, I will remain up here for a while."

"Of course. Come down when you're ready," Shifu said. He followed the others down into the ship's berthing quarters **(A/N: where the sailors sleep)**.

Tigress leaned her forearms against the edge of the wooden wall that surrounded the deck, staring down into the gently waving water, which was an obsidian black. As the ship slowly moved away from port, she heard someone come up beside her. She didn't address him, but continued to stare into the water.

"Hey," Po said, after a while. "You okay?"

"Fine," she said tonelessly.

"You need something to punch? 'Cuz I kind of took your chance back there…"

"Yes, about that," she said, looking up at him. "Why did you hit him?"

The answer was almost immediate. "Nobody talks about you like that, Tigress. Nobody."

"Even if it's the truth?" she said, going back to staring at the water.

"What the- Tigress, what are you talking about?"

Tigress felt a sharp pain in her throat, and she stubbornly forced the tears that were rising in her eyes down again. "Nothing."

"Tigress, come on. You're starting to freak me out here."

She knew if she said what she was thinking aloud that she'd start crying. So, ever so hesitantly, she let down the barriers around her mind. Surprised, Po instinctively did the same.

_Kung-Fu masters almost never marry,_ she told him. _It's a fact we must accept as soon as we take up the position. It isn't illegal, of course, but a family can be a huge disadvantage._

_ Whoa. Really?_ He said, sounding worried.

_Yes. A family can be used against you, kidnapped, or even killed. So naturally, not even the women focus much on their appearance._

_ But Viper-_

_ Viper's different. Or maybe I'm different. I really don't know; other than Mei Ling, I don't know many female warriors._ She shook her head. _In any case, you can probably see that I'm not…well, the most attractive female around._

_ Aw, come on! What are you talking about? You're totally amazing!_ Po said, punching her lightly on the shoulder.

She chuckled. _Thank you. But honestly, Po, I know I'm not exactly drop-dead gorgeous._ Her bittersweet smile turned even sadder. _I don't wear a woman's robes, I never put on makeup, and I don't even want to go into my chest size._ Po went slightly red at that, and she laughed again. _My back paws aren't even bound. I honestly never pictured myself with anybody, or at least not since I was very young._

_Not even someone like me?_ He asked jokingly.

_Especially__ not someone like you,_ she answered. _I knew that my duty lied with China and I took that responsibility very seriously, so seriously that whenever I even __thought__ about men, I'd reprimand myself and tell myself I was going against my duty to think about romance. So you can understand why I was so furious when Shifu told us about the Eye of the Dragon._

_ Yeah, I bet._ He was quiet for a moment, before he said, _So seriously, you never thought about getting married and everything?_

_ No._ She shook her head, then bit her lip, her fangs drawing tiny drops of blood. _Well, that's not entirely true. When I was very young, Oogway told me about the Lotus Tiger._

_ What?_

_ Master Shifu hadn't read the scroll on the Eye of the Dragon back then,_ Tigress explained. _But Oogway had. Whereas Shifu believed that I was both the Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Tiger, Oogway knew the truth. He said it in more of a fairy tale, though, so as not to interfere with fate's course._

_ Okay, I'm still lost,_ Po confessed.

_He told me about the Goddess' Daughter and the Cow Herder,_ she said **(A/N: That's the story about two Chinese lover, a Princes and a Cow herder that loved each other, but could not be together. For the full story, go to .org/wiki/Qixi_Festival )**,_and then he compared it to what could happen if, per say, the Dragon Warrior and the Lotus Tiger were two people._

_ Yeah, well, Oogway was real deep and stuff, he probably knew Master Shifu was wrong,_ Po pointed out. _So…explain to me again how this whole thing has to do with the Goddess and the Cow Herder?_

_ They were two very different people from two very different worlds,_ she said, staring out into the black night. _Almost like the Yin and the Yang. They were total opposites, and yet the managed to find each other._ She looked over at him, her coal-bright gaze locking into his of emerald green.

Then she looked away. _All my training was to prepare me to be the Dragon Warrior,_ she continued, _but when I was very young, I used to wonder if maybe Oogway's musings were actual fact, that the Dragon Warrior and Lotus Tiger were two different people. I used to daydream that the dashing, handsome Dragon Warrior would come and sweep me off my feet._ She smiled ( a little bitterly, it must be said) at the irony of it all. _A foolish dream, I know, but every girl has those fantasies when she's younger, myself included._

_ Uh…yeah, I guess._

They didn't say anything else for a long time but enjoyed each other's company. After a while, Tigress took a few folded up pieces of paper out of the inside of her vest, along with a small, empty inkwell, a small stick of ink powder, and a brush. Catching some seawater in the inkwell and crushing part of the powder stick in her paw, she mixed them together and then dipped her brush in the inkwell. She quickly started writing hurried characters onto the paper.

"What are you doing?" Po asked aloud.

"Writing a record of the day," she answered without looking over.

"Uh…why?"

This time, she did glance over at him for a moment. "In case we don't come back," she answered, as if it were obvious.

"Oh." He tried not to show that he was nervous by finding something else to do- which, in this case, was looking at the paper and trying to decipher the characters.

"Po, if you don't mind," Tigress said, after a few moments of him doing this.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said, looking away again. Seconds later, however, he was back to staring at the paper.

Tigress was about to tell him to knock it off when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Po, can you read?"

"Yeah, of course I can!" he said, trying to sound indignant. At a doubtful look from the tiger master, he dropped the act and said with something of a melancholy air, "Well…not really. I mean, I know enough to read the store signs and stuff, but…" he trailed off, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't be," she replied. "If anything, I'm the one at fault; Shifu taught me when I was very young, so sometimes I forget that not a lot of people know how, especially villagers and farmers." She scribbled a few more characters on in her hasty writing and said, "Maybe I could teach you sometime."

"Whoa, seriously? Because that'd be like totally _awesome_!" Po said, already excited.

She nodded, finished the last character, and gave him a small smile. "Should I survive the trial, I will show you after we get back home." She blew on the ink to dry it, emptied the ink jar into the ocean, put it all back inside her vest, and left.

Po watched her go. The small lamp on the door down to the sleeping quarters, which swinging slightly from the motion of the waves, making the shadows flicker on her orange fur as she descended. After a moment or two of wait, he followed.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, mis amigos. I hope I have not disappointed with this chapter. Sorry if Chéng seemed a little cruel and OOC, but I did my best. ; )**


	8. Chapter 8 Ahlam's Message

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

NOTE: I have another cookie contest! The first person to correctly answer why I mentioned the bit about the storm and it's purpose to the story will get 10 almond cookies!

**April 5****th****, Day 3, Boat, Pacific Ocean (close to China), (Approx. 7:00 p.m.)**

The wind was blowing furiously, the sky half-covered by clouds. A red sunrise rose on the east side of the boat.

"Hm. That's not good," Tigress said to herself, glancing at the sun.

"What's not good?" a voice said from behind her. Tigress glanced over her shoulder.

"Viper. Po. It's you two."

"Who else would it be?" the snake said, slithering onto the rail from Po's shoulder.

Tigress decided to answer her original question. "A storm's coming," she said, looking back out over the ocean.

"Whoa. Did the universe tell you that?" Po said, immediately suspecting something along the lines of the melodramatic.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "It's an old sailor's rhyme. 'Red at night, sailor's delight. Red in the morning, sailor's warning.'" She tilted her head in the directions towards the sun. "It won't be good for travel if-" she stopped, her eyes narrowing.

"What's wrong?" Viper asked.

Tigress didn't answer, but her ears flicked slightly. An instant later, she knocked both of them out of the way, as a cloaked figure darted out of the shadows, a silver dagger in hand.

Tigress caught the hand, going into a deep lunge, and then flipped the figure down onto the ground. Kneeling over him (she assumed it was a man), she hissed, "Assassins aren't welcome. State your name."

Po glanced, wide-eyed at Viper, and he knew they were both thinking the same thing. _S-s-scary k-kitty._

The figure didn't answer for a moment, before the strangest thing started to happen: he started to laugh.

Tigress growled and unsheathed her claws, but did not attack. With one wary paw, she flipped the hood off, exposing the attacker to the new sunlight.

The face underneath shocked everyone, for a multiple of reasons. For starters, the he was a _she_. For another, she was a mountain cat that appeared to be in her late forties, about Master Shifu's age,, much to the tiger master's surprise. But to top it all off, as the others ran up the stairs, yelling about a ruckus, Crane suddenly said, "Tigress, get off her!"

This wasn't an order Tigress would have obeyed from anyone. But the urgency in the normally peaceful avian was enough to change her mind. She slowly got up and offered a paw to the mountain cat.

Said cat took the hand and stood up. "Thank you, Feng," she said, bowing to Crane.

Tigress looked over at Crane, surprised. She had only ever heard his real name once, on the day he'd arrived at the Jade Palace with Monkey.

_ "Finally, we get some guys around here," Viper whispered to her friend., waiting in the Hall of Heroes with Shifu and Tigress. "And there's two of them. What do you say; one for each of us?"_

_ Tigress was about to respond when the doors in front of them opened._

_ The two new apprentices walked in and bowed, escorted by Master Oogway. One was a crane, and the other was a monkey. They both appeared to be around seventeen years of age._

_ Shifu, Tigress, and Viper bowed back. Shifu rose first. "Your names?" he asked._

_ The two of them seemed a little flustered. The crane answered first. "M-my name is Feng. __**(A/N: 'Wind, Custom, Phoenix). **__It is truly an honor to be here, M-Master Shifu."_

_ Shifu nodded, his face still in the stony semblance it had been before the answer. "And you?" he said to the monkey._

_ The primate blinked. "Uh- m-my name, Master Shifu?" His voice had a slight accent, which led Tigress to guess that he may have lived in western China for a time._

_ The red panda was annoyed. "Yes, your name. What else would I be asking?"_

_ The monkey glanced over at Oogway, as if looking for support. The old turtle nodded. "My name is Ming-hoa." __**(A/N: 'Bright, shining elite.')**__" He bowed again, just in case._

_ Shifu nodded again, and then said, "No longer will these be your names. Your new titles will be Master Monkey and Master Crane. Master Viper and Master Tigress will show you to your rooms."_

_ Viper slithered up and smiled at the new Master Crane. "Follow me!" she said sweetly. The bird dipped his head and murmured, "Th-thank you, Master Viper."_

_ Tigress glanced over at Monkey. "Follow us," she said tonelessly. The primate seemed surprised at the less-than-warm welcome._

_ Viper rolled her eyes and said to Monkey, "Don't worry about her. She's always like that until you get to know her."_

_ "Oh. Alright then," Monkey said, sounding slightly relieved. He followed the snake into the hall._

_ Both of the new apprentices went into the rooms they were given. Afterwards, Viper followed Tigress into hers._

_ "They're not bad looking," she said, slithering up the bedpost. "Especially Crane."_

_ Tigress looked at her, surprised and even a little scandalized. "Viper!" she hissed._

_ "What?" the snake said defensively._

_ "Are you insane?"_

_ "No! Why are you freaking out?"_

_ "He's not even the same __species__ as you!" the tiger master said._

_ "So?"_

_ Tigress gave her a don't-be-an-idiot look. "So it wouldn't work! And besides, he's going to be another master. It wouldn't be right."_

_ "Why not?"_

_ "It just wouldn't!"_

_ Viper looked angry. "I'm not going to let you tell me what to do with my relationships, Tigress! And being the same species has nothing to do with love!" And with that, she slithered down the bedpost and left._

The memory was gone as quick as it came, returning the tiger master to the present.

"You know her?" Viper asked the avian.

"Yes. She's Mei Ling's aunt, an instructor at the Dai Li academy," Crane said. He bowed to the mountain cat. "Master Ah-lam."** (A/N: 'Like an orchid.')**

The mountain cat stopped him before he could go into a full bow. "No, Feng. It is I who should be bowing to you. _All_ of you." She did so, facing Master Shifu directly.

The red panda, whose mouth was opened slightly, nearly forgot to bow back. The only reason he remembered at all was because Po nudged him slightly with his foot. Shifu quickly bowed low to the ground, his gaze never leaving Ah-lam's sea-blue eyes.

"Master Ah-lam," he said, rising from the bow, "May I ask to what we owe this visit?"

"I have a message for Master Tigress," she said, turning to the tiger. "Your messenger- Zeng, I believe his name is- was found outside the academy, exhausted and ill. It seems that he received a message from another messenger while en rout from the Jade Palace."

"Yes, I sent him to deliver a letter to the Emperor the day we left," Shifu said. "My apologies for the interruption, please go on."

Ah-lam nodded graciously. "It seems that after receiving the message, he returned to the Jade Palace in hopes that perhaps your departure had been delayed. Upon finding that you were not, he tried to find you. After a few fruitless days, he flew to the Dai Li academy in hopes that my niece would know of your whereabouts. He collapsed just outside the door. After hearing his story, I volunteered to take up the search for him, and traveled to a place that Mei Ling had said you often frequented on your journeys, Páng Hai."

"So you saw the disturbance with the bandits, followed us onto the boat…" Tigress said, catching on. "But why did you attack me?"

"I had to make sure you were the right person, and I knew that if you were your skill would be phenomenal," Ah-lam said, bowing. "My apologies for the whole cloak-and-dagger act, I never should have doubted your identity."

"Forgiven," Tigress said. "May I have the message?"

Ah-lam nodded and took a sealed scroll out from under her cloak. She handed the paper to her.

Tigress broke the gold-colored seal and unfurled the letter. As she read, her claws began to shake ever so slightly, though her face remained emotionless.

"What does it say, Tigress?" Master Shifu asked her.

The tiger master looked up, her expression like stone. "Xun Wei has changed the place of the trial," she said bluntly. "We must make port at the next stop."

"Why? Where is it?" Mantis asked.

"Bao Gu Orphanage," she said, her voice dead.

Everyone but Ah-lam sucked in a breath. "I know it's not my place to ask, however…what is this about a trial?"

Tigress glanced at her, her resolve failing her for a second at the sight of the cougar's eyes. Then her nerves steeled once again, and she said calmly, "I am on trial for murder, under the Court of Heavenly Wisdom."

Ah-lam's eyes widened slightly, but other than that, nothing else betrayed her surprise. Tigress remembered something Shifu had once said, about how a true master never revealed his or her shock, no matter what the situation. "I see."

"There's more," Tigress said, looking down at the letter. "Xun Wei is apparently offering me an option. Should I be convicted, I have the choice of execution by fighting him, along with the help of a second, or…" she looked up "Completing the Warrior's Surrender for both myself and Po, thus avoiding the trial altogether."

"As the Eye of the Dragon, your powers of the Yin and Yang would be invaluable to him," Ah-lam said.

Everyone looked at her, surprised. "How did you know about the Eye of the Dragon?" Monkey asked.

Ah-lam blinked. "Everyone knows. All of China is talking about it."

"I didn't tell anyone," said Tigress.

"Neither did I," Shifu said.

Everybody else (excluding Ah-lam) echoed this. Everybody… except one.

Everyone turned to look at Po, who said, "What?"

"Po," Tigress said.

"Okay, so I may have told…er…a few people…down at my dad's shop…" He tapped his fingers together.

Tigress treated him to a perfect deadpan, and the panda took a few steps back. She turned back to Shifu. "When can we dock?"

"In a few days- the day after tomorrow, if we don't encounter too many difficulties," Shifu answered. He looked at Ah-lam. "It appears that you will be with us for a while, then."

"Yes, my apologies."

"No, you are more than welcome," Shifu said. "Monkey, Crane, Viper, Mantis. Please show Master Ah-lam to the berthing quarters. Po, Tigress, I wish to talk to you."

"Yes, Master," the six of them said. The first four left with Ah-lam. Shifu watched them go.

"Master?" Tigress said, after a few seconds. Shifu didn't answer.

"Hey, Master Shifu?" asked Po. When Shifu still didn't respond, he said, "Master Shifu, Tigress is pregnant!"

"What?" the red panda said, jerking out of his stupor and whirling around.

"I am not!" Tigress said, annoyed. "Po, you are _so_ dead!"

"Hey, I was just trying to get his attention!" Po said defensively.

Shifu sighed, wacked Po with his staff, and walked in front of them. "I have something for each of you." He reached into his robes and pulled out two small items, which were wrapped in cloth. Careful not to touch whatever was inside, Shifu unwrapped them.

They were two pendants, one shaped like a Yin and the other like a Yang. Both were threaded through with a leather cord.

"I've seen those before," Tigress said. "They used to be in the Hall of Heroes."

"Really?" Po said.

"Yes. They were removed after the head of a rhino family that came to see the Palace touched one. He nearly died. Master Oogway had them put into special keeping so that no one else would get hurt." Tigress examined the pendants without her eyes. "What are they, Master?"

"They are the two Talismans of the Yin and Yang," Shifu answered. "If anyone but the Dragon Warrior or the Lotus Tiger touches them, the affects can be fatal." He stretched out his hand. "Take them."

Po gulped. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't wanna-"

"Take them," Shifu said again, this time with a bit of steel in his voice. Both of the warriors reached out and picked up their respective pieces.

As soon as they did so, they felt the self-created barriers around their minds dissolve. Instinctively, they dropped them.

Shifu sighed. "Pick them up."

Tentatively, Po reached forward and picked it up again. Tigress was a lot more hesitant; she barely touched it with her claws, making sure no bit of it was touching her flesh.

"Okay, so…what just happened?" Po asked.

"The small dot in the center of each of your pendants contains the tiniest bit of the other's soul," Shifu explained. "I technically was not supposed to give these to you until your wedding day-" at the word, both warriors choked, "-but I believe the situation demands it."

"Wedding day?" Tigress said, massaging her throat.

"Yes, of course. The two of you are, for all technical purposes, engaged," Shifu said, as if discussing the weather.

"So…there's part of Tigress' soul in this?" Po said, examining the white-jade Yang in his hands, or, more specifically, the tiny black dot in the center.

"Yes, exactly." He drew a Yin-Yang in the dust on the ship's deck with his staff. "Half of the spirit of the Yin-Yang remains in all that exists, balancing the universe." He split the Yin-Yang in half with another stroke. "Just under a quarter of it went into each of you." He split it in half again. "And a small bit went into each of the necklaces, which were given to Master Oogway on the day your births were prophesized. With this, the connection between your minds will increase to such a magnitude that not even you will be able to resist it."

"We don't resist it, Master," Tigress said hurriedly.

"Do not lie," Shifu snapped. "Do you think I don't notice how you two often talk aloud, even when you are having a private conversation?"

"Have you been spying on us?" asked Tigress, her eyes narrowing.

"No, I've merely been observing. Put on the necklaces; if you two are to fight him, you will need every advantage you can get."

"Whoa, wait," Po said, putting a paw up. "We're fighting him?"

"Didn't you listen to the letter?" Shifu said. "It's either give your power to him with the Warrior's Surrender- which is irreversible- or Tigress must fight him. She is allowed to have her second fight alongside her during the battle instead of after her death, and as I have no desire to seeing either of you killed, you must train. To surrender your power would make Xun Wei nearly invincible. He could take over cities, nations, perhaps even the world- which, knowing his character, he is liable to do. We must not allow him to have this, and stop him if we can."

"Agreed," Tigress said, taking a step forward. "How do we train for this, Master?"

"Through trial and error," Shifu answered. "You will fight me."

Both warriors glanced at each other, and that one look spoke volumes. "Fight…_you_, Master?" Tigress asked carefully.

"And win," Shifu agreed. "Xun Wei is fast and fights both physically and psychologically."

"Thus the choice of location," Tigress said.

"Exactly. Now, put on the Talismans and train."

Tigress and Po gingerly put on the Talismans. Instantly, their minds connected once again.

_You ready?_ Tigress asked.

_Uh…_

_ That makes two of us,_ she said grimly, and put her hands up into fighting stance.

"And…attack!" Shifu ordered.

They glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing. _We are so dead._

And then, without further ado, they both ran forward towards their master.

**A/N: Not as strong as an ending as I'd hoped for, sorry. You know the drill, peoples. R&R! And don't forget the contest. ; )**


	9. Chapter 9Unsaid AffectionsMinichapter

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

brwainer: Yes, you got it exactly right, it was to symbolize something. However, it was meant to be extremely subtle- it wasn't supposed to be right out there. My English teacher was always talking about how when you see something kind of unexplained in a story, it's called a 'motif' and it has a meaning. In this sense, it was set as a sort of subtle warning, combined with verbal irony; Tigress has just predicted that a storm is coming, and she is exactly right in more sense than one. Shifu will be saying something very similar in this coming chapter.

So, as I promised: ten almond cookies! ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) ({}) .

Noordinarywriter- You do realize I'm a martial artist, right? Trying to raid my house with scissors may be a slightly bad idea for all involved…However, if you raided my house with sneak-peak tickets to KFP 3, you would be invited in and given as many almond cookies (for real) as you prefer.

**Later that Day, At Sea (Approx. 12:00 p.m.)**

Tigress slammed into the ground, her head smashing hard against the wood. She heard Po land beside her.

They'd been attempting to beat Shifu all day, and had yet to succeed. They hadn't even gotten close.

"You are not using your connection," Shifu said. His shadow blotted out the sun, which seemed like a harsh white glare in the sky to her.

"Try again," Shifu said. "This time, use your bond. Think as one."

_I can barely think on my own, I'm so exhausted,_ she muttered to Po.

_No kidding,_ he answered.

Slowly, she got to her feet, assessing for new damage. Master hadn't gone easy on them at all, stopping short only of permanently injuring them.

She offered a paw to Po and dragged him to his feet. Slowly, they put their hands up into fighting position. Shifu did the same.

"Attack."

**That Night, After Supper (Approx. 8:00 p.m.)**

Dinner had been a pleasant occasion, despite the fact that they were all sitting in the berthing quarters munching on stale hardtack and water. The conversation had been lively and full of jokes, especially from Ah-lam, whom, despite her still-watered appearance, had a quick wit and an even quicker tongue.

No one had laughed as much Master Shifu, and this was all without wine, either. Even though he had recently become much kinder and lenient ever since Po had become the Dragon Warrior, it was still something of shock to his six students, though definitely good one.

He was still Shifu however, and after dinner, when everyone was settling into the hammocks that were strung between the beams, Shifu had headed up to the top deck to meditate.

Now, Po walked up the steps, being as quiet as possible. Something was seriously up with Shifu; his master _never_ laughed that much.

He peeked his head out the doorway, expecting to see Shifu on the deck with his hands in Mokuso **(A/N: that's a Karate term that you do while kneeling in seiza. It basically means 'silent meditation. I'm not sure if they do it in Kung Fu or not, but I saw Shifu holding his hands like it in KFP 2)**, but instead he saw the old Master sitting on the edge of the wall around the edge of the deck, staring out at sea.

He gave up all pretenses of sneaking and said worriedly, "Master Shifu?"

The red panda's head turned. "Po," he said. "You have a question for me?"

"Uh…yeah, kind of." He walked up to where his master was and watched him as Shifu turned back to staring at the horizon.

"A storm's coming tomorrow," he said quietly.

"Yeah, Tigress said that too," Po agreed. There was a moment's silence, before Po said, "Hey, Master Shifu, are you okay?"

"Fine." The red panda sounded anything but fine. "Why do you ask?"

"Well…you're acting really weird. You were laughing a lot and everything."

Shifu didn't answer him, but rather continued to look out over the horizon.

"So…why aren't you meditating?" Po said, trying for another approach.

Shifu sighed. "I'm too restless right now. I can't calm my mind enough to meditate; perhaps it is this entire trial problem." He closed his eyes.

"Yeah, maybe," Po agreed. "Or maybe it's that you've totally got it for Master Ah-lam."

Shifu sat straight up and looked over at Po, surprised. The panda was grinning knowingly.

Flustered, Shifu began to, of all things, stutter. "I do not- there is- I have no feelings towards Master Ah-lam whatsoever!" he said, making an attempt at sounding indignant.

"Come on, Master Shifu!" Po said. "I mean, she's totally awesome for you. I mean, you both love Kung Fu. You're both masters. And you're both, kinda, well…"

"Old?" Shifu said dryly.

"Uh yeah. That. So anyway, do you like her?"

Shifu sighed. "I suppose you could say I have a…mild attraction to her."

"So why not ask her out or something?"

Shifu chuckled a little sadly and shook his head. "No, no. Love is for young people, like you and the five."

"You should go for it," Po said. "I'm sure she'd be totally cool with it. You're, like, the greatest Kung Fu master alive; any woman would be lucky to have you."

"What would she see in me?" Shifu said, staring out at the horizon. "As you said, I am getting up in my years, and in any case, we are two completely different species."

"Well yeah, but so are me an' Tigress," Po pointed out. "And if you're both old, then your age wouldn't matter, right?"

"You and Master Tigress are the Yin and Yang," Shifu countered. "You were intended for each other, even before you were born. But as for me- I knew when I chose to follow Master Oogway that I was giving up the life of a normal man. That I would likely never have a family, a wife. It is a fact I have been resigned to…until today." He shook his head. "But I know what I may and may not do, and attempting to woo Master Ah-lam is one of the things I must restrain myself from.:

"Aw, come on, Master Shifu," said Po, nudging the panda. "Have a little fun. I mean, you're so serious and confusing and stuff, take some time off from being all 'I am a Kung Fu Master and I can meditate for eight hours' and be a normal guy for once."

"But I am not!" Shifu said, standing up on the railing so that he was actually taller than Po. "I am not a 'normal' person; neither of us are. Master Ah-lam has her duty to China and to her students." He sighed. "As do I."

"Yeah, but-"

"I do not wish to discuss this any more tonight, Dragon Warrior," Shifu interrupted. "Is there anything else you wish to talk to me about?"

Recognizing defeat, Po shook his head. "Er- no, Master Shifu."

"Then if you wouldn't mind…"

Po shrugged and turned around. As he did so, he called over his shoulder, "We've all got duties, Master Shifu. Sometimes they're not always what you think they are."

Shifu sighed as heard the panda go down the stairs into the laughter and conversation in the berthing quarters below. He crossed his legs and formed his hands into a Mosuko. "Inner peace…Inner- Inner Peace…"

But no matter how much he tried to find peace, his mind would always flicker back to those eyes- those cerulean, sea-blue eyes…


	10. Chapter 10 Dads and Dreams

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

**April 6, Day 4, Pacific Ocean (Approx. 6:30 a.m.)**

Shifu climbed the stairs out of the berthing quarters and into the fresh air. The clouds gathering above were a nasty greenish sort of color, and he knew it wouldn't be long until the storm was upon them.

"Grand Master Shifu," a voice from behind him said.

He turned and found himself looking into those azure eyes. He cleared his throat. "Yes, Master Ah-lam?"

"I have something for you," Ah-lam said. She pulled another letter from under her blue cloak. "I am sorry that I didn't give this to you sooner, Grand Master, but I never had the chance to see you alone." Her tone was carefully controlled, so much so that even Shifu could not decipher her thoughts.

"Alone? Is it of a secret nature?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"I would believe so. Zeng was reluctant to give it over; he said that the sender knew you well, and that you likely would not want it read by anyone other than you."

"I see." Shifu took the letter from her paw and broke the seal. He unfolded it and quickly began to read.

To the Grand Master Shifu, heir to the title of the former Grand Master Oogway, keeper and instructor of the Jade Palace and its students, and my son:

First, Grand Master, let me grant you my thanks for saving our village. Your niang **(A/N: 'mother')** and I are very grateful. It was thanks to you and to your students that our village was saved from both Lord Shen and Master Sung.

Secondly, I ask your forgiveness in my late correspondence. It has been quite some time since my last letter,-

"Indeed," Shifu murmured to himself, a strong sense of bitterness welling in the pit of his stomach.

-mainly because I didn't wish to disrupt your training. It was a great honor for you to be taken on by Grand Master Oogway (may the gods rest his soul), and I wished you no distraction.

My main reason for writing this letter is because I heard that you were coming our way on a journey, and I wish to offer our hospitality. Our house is open to you and your students; it would be a great honor for you to stay in our home.

Sincerely,

Lord Huang-fu Jin **(A/N: 'Fortunate Gold')**, former rulerof Záng Yí **('Great City')**

Shifu sighed and let his hands fall to his side. "So father is still alive," he murmured to himself.

Ah-lam was about to go down the stairs when she glanced over. "Grand Master? Did you say something?"

"Ah- no, go ahead." She was about to leave when Shifu said, "On second thought, may I speak to you?"

"Of course, Grand Master," Ah-lam said, surprised. She walked over to where he was standing. After a moment of silence, she said, "Grand Master, is there something wrong?"

Shifu hesitated a moment, then said, "If this isn't too personal a question, when did you leave your family to train at the Dai Li academy?"

Master Ah-lam blinked. "I was about fifteen or sixteen. Why?"

Shifu nodded. "I was ten when Master Oogway invited me to the Jade Palace to be his apprentice. My family considered it to be a great honor. They were…very happy for me." He tried his best to keep the bitterness from his voice, but Ah-lam caught it anyway.

"Happy to see you go?" she asked quietly.

Shifu swallowed. "Yes. That- that is correct." He glanced out over the ocean; he seemed to be doing that much too often lately. "My father promised to send me a letter each month with the doings of the village, how life was at home, etcetera. I received one letter, that first month. After that, I never had another. This is the first sign I've received that my father was even alive in nearly forty years." He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his hands from shaking. When he opened them again, he was his usual composed self. "Please excuse me, Master Ah-lam. I am not myself today."

To his surprise, Ah-lam dropped to a knee, lowering herself so that she was at his level. "It was much the same with my family," she said, her tone containing the slight accent belonging to those of the mountains in Northern China. "I had no contact with my family for nearly thirty years; after three decades, I received a notice informing me of my father's death and burial."  
>"My apologies," Shifu said, bowing his head slightly in reverence.<p>

"None required, Grand Master," Ah-lam said. "I hardly knew the man at fifteen, and at forty-five his place in my heart and my idea of family had vanished completely."

There was a moment's silence between the two masters, a common mourning of what never was. When it had passed, Ah-lam said, "Will you go to your father's house, Grand Master?"

Shifu closed his eyes. "It would be rude of me to refuse, especially when we are in need of a place to stay. Yes, I will go."

"Then, should you agree, I offer my company to you, Grand Master," Ah-lam said, standing once again. "Perhaps having another teacher nearby would help you."

"You would be most welcome, Master Ah-lam," Shifu said, bowing slightly to show his gratitude. "You have my thanks."

"And you mine, Grand Master," said Ah-lam, bowing.

_** Time Unknown, Bao Gu Orphanage**_

_ "They call me a monster. But- but I'm not! Really!" She said it as if she were trying to convince herself more than him. "Really."_

_ At her words, he began to back away. "You're the monster?"_

_ "I won't hurt you! I promise!"  
>He looked scared. "Don't come any closer!"<em>

_ "Xiao-ping! Where are you? Xiao-ping!" Both animals glanced over at the staircase, which had claw marks and was broken in many places. There were footsteps; someone was coming up the stairs._

_ Xiao-ping took a few steps farther back, a silhouette against the glaring white of the window. "Stay away from me!" he yelled at Tigress._

_ "I just want to play. Here!" She bounded forward, laughing. "See? You're it!" She hit him lightly in the chest._

_ Xiao-ping flew backwards at the touch, stumbling as he tried to regain his ground._

_ Suddenly, as if by magic, the claws that had hit him elongated, turning a silky white. The hard nail turned to soft, sleek feather, and a voice that was both not her own said cruelly, "Let me heal you."_

_ She swiped her feathers over the cannon, the sparks from the silver-on-iron setting it alight. With a roaring that sounded like a hurricane, the cannon fired. There was a shout of fear from the panda in front of her, his green eyes terrified, and somewhere to her left she heard someone cry, "NO!"_

_ And then, the cannonball hit, blasting Po into oblivion._

_ She turned towards the sound, expecting another adversary. Well, no matter. She would kill him. She would kill them all._

_ She found the face of the shouter and saw…_

_ Herself._

_ The other 'her' began to scream at her, sobbing. "HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU, YOU MONSTER!"_

_ "I'm not a monster!" she yelled back, the world around her twisting. "I'm not a monster!"_

_ "You killed him!" the figure in front of her yelled, and now it was no longer her mirror, but something else, something that shifted shapes and voices between all those she held dear. "You killed them both! You are responsible! You are a monster!"_

"NO!"

The other occupants of the cabin woke with her scream. The tiger master, thrashing, tumbled out of her hammock and onto the floor.

"Tigress!"

"Master Tigress, are you okay?"

"What's going on?"

The ship was pitching from side to side as the storm rocked the boat. The light from the lantern was swinging back and forth, the bizarre twist of shadow and light adding to the chaos of the situation.

"I didn't try to!" she screamed. "I didn't know! I didn't want-!"

"Tigress, calm down!"

"I'M NOT A MONTSER!" she yelled, cowering into a small ball on the floor, hugging at her stomach and sobbing. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO- I ONLY WANTED-"

"Tigress!"

Suddenly, she spotted Po, who had rolled out of his hammock and was standing in front of her. She stumbled forward on her knees.

"I'M SORRY!" She screamed. "I'M SORRY!"

"Tigress- Tigress, it's okay, you're okay!" Po said, falling to his knees in front of her and grabbing her shoulders.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T WANT- I DIDN'T TRY TO KILL YOU!"

The words hung in the air as everyone else fell into a shocked silence, the tiger master still crying hysterically.

"It was an accident!" she sobbed into her paws. "I didn't mean to kill him- to kill either of you- I'm not a monster!"

Suddenly, she felt two big, warm arms wrap around her, pulling her into a hug. "I know you're not a monster, okay?" Po said. "It was just a bad dream or whatever."

Tigress, still crying, said, "It's not- it's not just a-"

"I'm not dead, Tigress. I'm right here. Nothing happened to me."

Tigress nodded into his chest, trying to stop crying. Now that she knew that everything was all right, she was painfully aware that everyone was staring at her. Even though she couldn't see them, she could feel their stares practically burning holes into her back.

She breathed in his scent for a moment- sea-salt and sweat mixed with noodles- before she drew away. Just as she'd suspected, everyone was staring at her, stunned.

Tigress closed her eyes for a moment, composing herself. Then she opened them, scarlet eyes dry, if not a little red about the edges. "My apologies for disturbing you all," she said, her voice perfectly controlled. "I- I will go up to the deck for a while. Please excuse me." She shakily stood up and walked straight-backed up the stairs. The was a loud spatting sound as she opened the door at the top (which had been closed because of the storm), and then a loud thud as the door slammed shut.

**Above Deck**

The gale tossed the boat harshly, though Tigress could tell they were on the tail end of the storm. She struggled to the mast, where she braced herself to wait out the storm.

She felt saltwater sting her fur-covered cheeks, and for a moment she credited it to the storm, before she realized that the water was warm.

The hot, salty tears poured down her fur from her closed eyes, mingling with the icy water that swirled around her feet as they fell. She cried openly, knowing that she was alone. No one could see her, and she was determined to maintain whatever semblance of pride she had left.

She didn't know how long she remained there, crying, before she heard someone calling her name.

"Tigress! Tigress!"

She opened her eyes against the biting wind. A figure moved amongst the rain and spraying waves, and then suddenly she found Po standing in front of here.

"Are you insane?" the panda shouted over the roaring wind. "You're going to get knocked off the boat!"

"I can't go back in there!" she yelled.

"Why not?"

"Because-" thunder drowned out the rest of her words, but Po heard them anyway. _Because they'll stare at me like that again._

_ Like what?_ He said, giving up on the audible talk.

_ Like I'm sort of freak!_ She snapped at him. She closed her eyes again. _Like I'm some sort of monster._

_You're not a-_

_ I am!_ She snarled in her mind. _I'm a murderer and a monster. I deserve death._

_ Why?_ He demanded. _Because of a mistake? Because of something you couldn't help?_

She was silent, but he felt the guilt well up in her, the horrible, ugly shame that nearly crippled her. She sank to the ground and buried her face in her arms.

_What happened that day, Tigress?_ Po pressed. _What did you do that's so bad you believe you deserve to die?_

Tigress shuddered, though from cold or emotional pain, he couldn't tell. And then, suddenly, Tigress raised her head, scarlet eyes burning with memories and pain. And then, steeling her will and finding a type of braver she hadn't even known she had, she began her story.


	11. Chapter 11 FlashbackTigress' Story

Chapter 11- Backstory

A/N: VERY IMPORTANT!

All right, people, this chapter is going to have a very specific layout. Picture it in the same way that Po's backstory was done in KFP 2 while he's doing the whole 'inner peace' thing. All the flashback is supposed to be seen in that same paper-cutout looking style. Also, when Tigress is talking and narrating the story, the words will be in italics. Ex: _I went to the market that day._ Whenever it's the backstory, it will be underlined: I went to the market that day. Whenever it's focusing in on her and Po in the real world, it'll just be normal: I went to the market that day.

On with the show!

**Backstory**

_The day I was born was the day my birthfather lost the first conquest._

"Master Sung!" a boar said, rushing into the strategy tent. "Master Sung!"

The tiger glanced over at him. "Yes, General Dáwei?"

"Your wife- the baby has been born."

This drew Sung's attention away from the strategy map. "Yes? What is it? A boy?" he said, his voice urgent and harsh.

"No, a beautiful girl," the General answered. "You'll make a good marriage out of her, Master Sung. You must be very proud."

But the tiger master was anything but proud. He snarled and knocked the strategy board off the table in his rage. The boar took a cautious step back.

"Bring me to my wife," he growled, breathing heavily.

"But Master Sung-"

"NOW!"

_They say Master Sung was so enraged by my birth that he knocked the strategy board off the table. That was why he lost; he didn't know where the enemy was and couldn't create a strategy. He demanded to see his wife and new daughter._

The young tiger, Jia Li by name **(A/N: 'Good and Beautiful')**, lay on the makeshift delivery bed, her fur slick with sweat. The midwife- an elderly Sheep who had been traveling with the war party as the wife of an older soldier- handed her the new baby.

The tiny baby girl giggled slightly and smiled. The midwife's eyebrows raised; she'd seen babies grimace before and appear to be smiling, but a smile just minutes after being born was almost unheard of.

"She's beautiful," Jia Li said, her voice hoarse.

"Yes, my Lady," the sheep said, bowing. "She will be a wonderful daughter; with proper instructions in a woman's graces, she could easily be one of the most beautiful women in China. Men will be lining up to try for her hand."

At this moment, Sung strode through the room. He glared at his wife, who smiled sweetly at him.

"Look, my Lord," she said, holding up the small child, who laughed. "What shall we name her?"

"Nothing at all!" Sung sneered. He turned to the midwife. "Drown the thing in the river."

"Drown her?" Jia Li cried.

"Yes," Master Sung said coldly.

"But she's your own daughter!"

"I need an heir! This- this pathetic kitten will only hold us back. Look at her!" He pointed an accusing claw at the baby, who smiled and giggled. "She is weak, cowardly."

"She's only a baby! And a newborn at that!" Usually the soft-spoken tiger would never have stood up to her husband like this, but he was proposing infanticide!  
>"Kill her," Jung ordered the midwife again. The sheep nodded, terrified.<span>

Jia Li ducked her head. "May I-" she coughed, and Sung could tell her illness was getting worse. "May I have a minute alone with her, my Lord? Please?"

Sung growled, but seemed to consider it. "Very well. One minute." Both he and the midwife left.

_ He wanted to kill me, but my mother begged to have a minute with me._

Jia Li held the child in her arms, tears slowly leaked from her eyes for the child she had just delivered. "My daughter," she whispered.

The child looked up at her, no longer smiling. Instead, her eyes were wide and pleading, as if she knew what was going to happen to her and was asking the new mother for help.

"I'm sorry," Jia Li said. "I can't save you. I- I can't. He'll kill me!" However, as she said these things, some part of her began to shout that this was no excuse.

Jia Li held the child to her chest, trying to comfort the baby tiger as she began to whimper. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If I could save you, I would…"

But she could. She could get up right now. She could escape with the baby. It would cost her, but…

"If I'm going to die anyway, I may as well die doing something worthwhile," she murmured, pushing herself up with an effort. She was so exhausted, but she knew she needed to do this.

_ She was very ill, because the Bond that had been formed between her and my father was corrupted. She was dying, but she took me and escaped._

Jia Li struggled through the mountain blizzard, feeling as if she was going to die right then and there. She had to get to an orphanage before it happened.

She coughed into her arm, the orange fur coated in heavy, wet snow. She held her baby close to her.

Behind her, she could hear the howls of the wolves as they caught her scent. The sound quickened her pace; she couldn't let them catch her.

_ Sung's Men chased her through the mountains, barely behind her at every turn. For nearly three weeks she traveled through the mountains on foot until. When she reached the end, she found a green valley filled with small towns._

Jia Li looked out over the edge, resting for a few minutes. This was the last mountain, the last ridge. All she had to do was descend.

_ The largest town, Bao Gu, had an orphanage. My mother had just put me on the doorstop when she fell down._

She struggled for breath as she laid the small bundle on the doorstep. She straightened back up, and then clutched at her chest. She collapsed to the cobblestone path.

_Dead._

(Scene spirals slowly upward, showing the fallen Jia Li on the ground and the orphanage doorstep).

_ The Bao Gu orphanage took me in, but they didn't know what they were doing._

She screamed in rage, breaking the headboard of her bed with one smashing blow. The other children cowered on the other side of the long room.

_ When I got angry or scared, things got broken._

"Girl, what are you doing?" the matron yelled as she destroyed the wooden wall, leaving a gaping hole.

_ Usually they were objects. Sometimes, they were people._

The small duck held his arm, crying. Tigress took a few steps back, not believing what she'd just done.

_ And then there were the nightmares._

She screamed, waking herself. But even though she was awake, she didn't stop screaming as the confusing, chaotic images raced through her head.

The other children also woke with her, startled from their sleep. The young nameless tiger continued to cry bloody murdered. She tumbled out of her bed and, scared out of her wits, began to thoroughly destroy it.

_ I don't remember what they were about. But tigers have long memories. Maybe it was about Sung ordering my death._

The other children crowded into their safe corner of the room, cowering from the small child's fear and rage.

Tigress buried her face in her arms, which were hugging her knees to her chest against the cold of the storm. _The ones who remembered their parents began to cry out for them. "Niang! Niang! Mother! Mother!"_

"Mother! Mother!"

_ But no one ever came for them. No one ever came for any of us, except the lucky ones._

The children watched enviously as one more orphan left on adoption day, going to a happy family.

_ Eventually, they moved all the children out of my wing and left me there._

She looked around. The room seemed so…empty without any of the others.

She remembered the words they had yelled at her as they left. "Freak! Monster! Monster!"

She growled at the memory, and then with a shout broke the railing to the stairs.

_ Isolated._

Nobody looked at her. Nobody talked to her. Even when she was allowed outside, she always stayed in the shadows, her red eyes glaring out from the partial darkness.

_ Alone._

The empty room scared her at night. She huddled in the corner in her small nest of torn blankets and rags. All the beds were broken, reduced to splinters by this strength she couldn't control.

_ They didn't care about me. Nobody did. I wouldn't see anybody for days at a time. Sometimes, they even forgot to feed me._

She was so hungry. They hadn't fed her for weeks; the growling in her stomach was almost incessant now.

She knew what kind of food she wanted. Meat. Warm, bloody meat.

But that was evil. So evil. Cannibalism, she thought it was called.

_ And then one day, somebody wandered into my wing by accident. A rabbit by the name of Xiao-ping._

"Do you want to play?"

The rabbit slowly backed away. "Wh-who are you?"

She stepped out of the shadows, tilting her head slightly. "I'm Lien-hua, but no one ever calls me that."

He frowned. "You don't look like a lotus. How'd you get your name?"

She blinked. "I named myself. Didn't you?"

"No. I'm Xiao-ping. So if people don't call you your name, what do they call you?"

_ I don't think he knew who I was. He didn't know that only 'The Monster' lived in that wing._

She glanced down at the ground. "They call me a monster. But- but I'm not! Really!" She said it as if she were trying to convince herself more than him. "Really."

At her words, he began to back away. "You're the monster?"

"I won't hurt you! I promise!"  
>He looked scared. "Don't come any closer!"<span>

"Xiao-ping! Where are you? Xiao-ping!" Both animals glanced over at the staircase, which had claw marks and was broken in many places. There were footsteps; someone was coming up the stairs.

Xiao-ping took a few steps farther back, a silhouette against the glaring white of the window. "Stay away from me!" he yelled at Tigress.

_ When he found out who I was, he told me to stay back. I was so lonely…I only wanted to play. So I ran forward and tagged him. But I hit him too hard._

"I just want to play. Here!" She bounded forward, laughing. "See? You're it!" She hit him lightly in the chest.

_He fell out the window._

Xiao-ping flew backwards at the touch, stumbling as he tried to regain his ground. Suddenly, his short little legs hit the window-ledge. He let out a small cry as he tripped, fell. There was a moment's pause, and then, very lightly, a small thump, just underneath the window.

_ I didn't try to hurt him. It was an accident!_

Lien-hua stared, surprised, at the spot where Xiao-ping had been. After a moment, she ran over to the window. "Xiao-ping?" She looked down.

_ His body…it was so broken! The neck was twisted back. He wasn't moving._

A small, white body was lying on the stone beneath the window. It's neck was twisted at an odd angle, and as Lien-hua watched, a ball that had been kicked that way hit the rabbit. 

_Some children nearby were kicking a ball around. It went the wrong way and hit him._

A sickening snap! was heard as the ball made contact, and something white and long jabbed through the flesh. 

_ Something j-jabbed out of his neck. A bone. Th-there was a h-horrible snapping sound._

Blood began to bubble out, staining the white fur red.

_ The bone ripped through his pelt. Blood- oh gods, the blood-_

Liean-hua stumbled back, retching. 

_ It was an accident!_

Even so young, she knew that what she had seen was not normal, that Xiao-ping's body shouldn't have twisted that way. 

_ I promise you, it was an accident!_

She fell to her knees, feeling like something was strangling her, was cutting off her breath, was choking her.

_I'm sorry!_

The matron and the nurse got to the top of the stares and saw the small tiger puke up what little food was in her belly. They ran over to her.

"What happened? Where's Xiao-ping?"

Tigress pointed to the window, sobbing.

_ Don't hurt me! I'm sorry!_

They ran over and looked down. "Oh dear gods!"

"Help! Somebody, help!"

_ Please!_

Xiao-ping's body was put into the grave. Only the adults were there; the sight of the rabbit's mutilated body would have been too much for the children.

But one child watched from her window, almost in a shocked stupor.

_ PLEASE!_


	12. Chapter 12 Comfort

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. I got the lyrics to 'Hold' by Superchick from . .

A/N: This and the next chapter will probs be the last depressing chapters for a while. Not to say there won't be any angst, but this story needs some levity.

**April 6, Day 4, Pacific Ocean (Approx. 10:30 a.m.)**

Po stared in shock as the strongest person he'd ever known crumpled in on herself, sobbing. The boat had stopped rocking so hard, though the water remained on the deck, puddling on the wood. The rain continued to pour down, cold as death.

"Master Tigress?" he said hesitantly.

No answer.

Slowly, he extended a paw and settled it on her back. She flinched under his touch.

He inched forward until he was so close to her that he was actually blocking her from the rain. A moment later, she found herself in the same embrace that he'd wrapped her in when she'd screamed that she'd killed him.

Tell me that it's gonna be okay

Tell me that you'll help me find my way

Tell me you can see the light of dawn is breaking

"It's gonna be okay, Tigress," Po said. "We're all here for you."

Tell me that it's gonna be all right

She shook her head. "It's not. You- you don't understand. I'm a monster. Xun Wei- he has every right to kill me. If he succeeds…"

Tell me that you'll help me fight this fight

"He won't," Po insisted stubbornly. "I'm going to be right there with you, okay? Fighting with you."

Tell me that you won't leave me alone in this

"But-"

"You're not alone in this thing, Tigress. We're all in this together. A team, just like always."

[chorus]

'Cause I need

"A team?" she said, laughing hollowly. "Teams break apart, Po. Families don't last."

"Why not?" he said, as if he didn't believe her (which he didn't).

She closed her eyes, trying not to cry. "Because they're fragile," she said, her voice cracking. "And I break fragile things."

I need a hand to hold

"You don't try-"

"Does it matter?" she snarled. "It happens whether I try to or not." She looked at her paws, which were shaking. She held one up, and then clenched it into a furious fist. "These are the tools of a murderer!" she roared, startling him. "A carnivore, a freak of nature! Someone born and bred to destroy everyone around her!"

To hold me from the edge

The edge I'm sliding over slowly

Po tightened his grip on her. He held her close, as if the strength of his embrace could convince her that she was not guilty of murder and that she didn't deserve to die.

'Cause I need

I need your hand to hold

To hold me from the edge

"You're not a freak," he insisted. "You're not a monster, Lien-hua."

[ From: . ]

The edge I'm sliding past

"Don't call me that!" she yelled, jerking away from him.

"What? Why?"

"I- I only ever told my name to one other person," she said.

"Who?"

The name was like fire in her mouth. "Xiao-ping."

Hold on to me

His mouth dropped open. She glared at him with those narrowed red eyes. "Don't tell _anyone_ my name," she hissed. "Ever!"

Her words were nearly unbelievable, and yet it made a morbid kind of sense to the panda. That day…the memory of it was brought back at the sound of her own name, and therefore she hated it. If everyone knew it and called her by it, she'd be in a constant reel of flashbacks.

That was when he realized what it had cost her to tell him her name at the festival.

Tell me I can make it through this day

She drew in a shaky breath. "You seriously think we can do this?"

"I _know_ we can," he said, grinning in his easy-going way that always seemed to calm her down slightly from whatever mood she was in.

I don't even have the words to pray

"I wish I could talk to Xiao-ping," she admitted, folding her legs into lotus. "Obviously it's impossible, but-"

"Why is it impossible?" Po demanded.

She blinked. "What?"

"Why is it impossible? I mean, people said that a big, clumsy panda like me couldn't defeat Tai Lung, and I did. They said you couldn't reform, and you did. So what's impossible got to do with anything?"

She stared for a moment, and then said slowly, "Tomorrow is the Qixi festival **(A/N: A festival around April 7 where the Chinese honor their dead ancestors)**. If there were ever a day when it would be possible, it would be tomorrow."

"Yeah, see? We can try to, I dunno, contact the spirit world then or something."

You have been the only one who never left me

Suddenly, she threw her arms around him again and embraced him tightly, just like she had in the Gongmen jail not too long ago. "You're the only person that's never given up on me, you know that?" she asked.

Help me find the way through all my fears

"Aw, come on. What about Master Shifu?" Po said.

"His expectations were so high that he was constantly giving up on me, over and over," Tigress replied. "And now, everyone down there thinks I'm some sort of…monster." The word stung her throat, tasting as bitter as it had so many years ago. "But you never think badly of anyone. Not even me."

"'Course I never thought badly of you," he said, grinning. "I mean, you're totally awesome."

Help me see the light through all my tears

They stayed like that for a long time, one comforting and the other receiving comfort. The rain continued to pour down, drenching both, but even the icy cold of the water couldn't penetrate the warmth of their embrace **(A/N: couldn't think of anything less cheesy, sorry)**.

Help me see that I am not alone in this

[chorus 2x]

"You're not alone," Po said again, pulling away. "The Five, Master Shifu, me…even Ah-lam. We're all here for you."

She nodded. "We should get back down below deck," she said, once again the hard-core Kung-Fu master. She stood up and helped Po to his feet.

"You don't mind going down?" he asked, surprised.

She shook her head. "I'll need to face them eventually. Now is as good as later."

As they were about to go back down, she turned and bowed to him, her fist to the palm of her other paw. "Thank you, Master Po," she said.

"Uh- sure," he said, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, anytime."

She smirked slightly, if perhaps a little sadly. Then she turned, opened the door, and walked downstairs.

Po watched her for a moment. She wasn't exactly okay… more like stabilized, for the moment. If the tiny hope that they could somehow contact Xiao-ping the next day was wrong, then Tigress would _never_ be okay.

**Below Deck**

Tigress had been hoping that everyone was asleep, but unfortunately that was not he case.

As she walked in the room, everyone immediately stood up (except for Viper, who raised her head). "Tigress!" the serpent said.

She could feel her paws shaking and grabbed the sides of her black pants to steady them. Clenching the dripping cloth in her claws, she waited for one of them to speak.

Again, Viper was the first. "Tigress, are you all right?"

"I am fine," she said, her voice even. She walked over to her hammock as if everything were normal and sat down on it. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she said, "Why are you still awake?"

"We were waiting for you," Crane answered. "Tigress, is something wrong?"

That was when the anger reared up inside her. "Is something wrong?" she demanded. "Is something wrong? Nothing's wrong, except for that you've all been avoiding me."

The all glanced guiltily at each other. "Tigress-" Monkey began, but the feline cut him off.

"I didn't intend to do what I did," she said harshly, "And believe me when I say I will _never_ do it again."

"Tigress, we're really sorry!" Viper confessed. "You're right, we've been avoiding you. We're just not sure what to say."

"Yeah," Mantis agreed. "It's like anything we do could set you off."

"Set me off? I'm not going to-"

"We know," Shifu said, taking a few steps forward. "Tigress, we know that you're not a killer. But we don't want to upset you anymore than this whole situation already has. It appears that we have done so in our attempt to protect you."

Surprised, Tigress glanced around. Everyone nodded as they met her eyes. "Oh. I- I see." Suddenly, on impulse, she bowed. "Thank you. _All _of you."

They were all stunned. "Uh- you're welcome," Monkey said.

Viper slithered up to her friend and looked up at her, still worried. "Are you sure you're okay now, Tigress?"

"I'm fine," she assured her, getting down on one knee so that she was closer to her level. "Don't worry about it."

Viper smiled. "Alright."

"Now that that's cleared up, tomorrow is Qixi," Shifu said. "We'll dock tomorrow; I will make a small shrine to my master, as he has none, and anyone else who wishes to honor their dead ancestors may also do so."

They all nodded, suddenly somber at the thought of the Qixi festival. Everyone quickly got back into their hammocks without a word.

One by one, they all fell asleep. All but two.

The tiger and the panda both stayed awake. Tigress didn't want another nightmare, and Po wanted to be there for her if she did.

Suddenly, Tigress stood up and walked over to his hammock. She sat down on the edge, the same way he did. She leaned against him and closed her eyes, knowing that she wouldn't have a nightmare while he watched over her.

As her breathing evened out, the bear held her gently, both for her comfort and his. He brushed a hand over hear ears lightly, holding his breath and hoping he wouldn't wake her. When this did not, he hesitantly leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.

He drew back, settled into a comfortable position, and waited for the morning.


	13. Chapter 13 Xiaoping and Jia Li

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. I got the information on Taoist gods from . and the stuff on the Quingming festival from . .

Anonymous reviewer who said Superchick is 'forgettable and disposable crap': While I agree that 'Hold' is not one of Superchick's best songs (that would be 'Beauty from Pain' or 'Stand in the Rain'), I checked out the songs that you recommended and they, while good, are absolutely irrelevant to with the story, as was your review. You first review was completely unnecessary, but the other two were just plain stupid. The number of time you used the words 'Christ' and 'Jesus' showed just how little respect you have for the man that suffered _torture_ and _death_ for you! (Who, by the way, is the subject of many of Superchick's songs.) Said songs have not only entertained millions of people, they have also saved a number of kids from suicide and self-destructive behaviors (check out the comments for many of her songs on YouTube to see what I mean). Until the day that you can come up with a song as good as Superchick or are some sort of musical connoisseur, you can save your reviews, bias, and, frankly, uninformed and annoying opinions for whomever is unlucky enough to have to listen to your complaints 24/7.

A/N: My apologies to everyone else that had to read that. I'm usually not that harsh, but when someone starts ripping on a band that a.) I like, and b.) Honors my Savior, I kind of fly off the handle. Sorry again.

I want to compliment Alicehatter239 on her clever use of posting her second comment for another chapter, as you can only post on review per chapter. That was _very _smart; I'll have to do that sometime! To Shadowfang: yes, you may use it, no problem! To Jonesypal64: Brilliant idea! Thank you so much! I hope you don't mind if I use that, it's true genius!

**IMPORTANT! : I wish to apologize for some misinformation: it is not the Qixi Festival that honors the dead; it is actually the **_**Quingming**_** Festival, which occurs on April 4-6, not April 7. My apologies!**

Now, on with the show!

**April 7, Day 5, Quingming Festival, Eastern China, Along the Sea (Approx. 9:00 a.m.)**

The sand on the beach was imprinted with a number of paw/talon prints, which lead to a small group of travelers a ways away from port.

Shifu knelt down in the sand, collecting a number of rocks and creating a small mound, a makeshift memorial for his master, who of course had no burial place. He dusted off the rocks, symbolically 'cleaning the tomb,' and took a small item out of his robe. Po caught sight of it and realized it was a small piece of dried and salted vegetable.

"On your way, students," he said, his voice even. They realized that they were probably intruding and went on their way to make their own small memorials.

Shifu closed his eyes and drew in a shaking breath. He felt a lump grow in his throat; this was the first Quingming Festival since his master's death. And of course, his master was not just his instructor; he was the primary father figure for the majority of his older life.

He felt something wet trail down his face, and he realized that, against his will, a tear had escaped. He felt a paw settle on his shoulder. "Tigress, not-"

"Grand Master," the person said, and Shifu stiffened as he realized that the feline behind him was not Tigress. "Forgive me for intruding, but are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he snapped. "Do you not have your own memorial to make, Master Ah-lam?" the words came out harsher than he meant them to.

"No. I have no love for my deceased father, and he is the only family death I've heard of as of yet." Though she knew he'd said for her to leave, she knelt down beside him. She sucked in a sharp breath as she saw his pained face. After a pause, she said softly, "You really loved him, didn't you?"  
>"He was the closest thing I ever had to a father," Shifu answered, struggling to keep his voice normal. "I- I miss him, perhaps more than I care to admit."<p>

She nodded. "My master died about ten years ago. I have visited her grave every year on this date; today is the first time in nearly a decade that I have not been able to."

"Ah," Shifu said, surprised. "I- I see." As an afterthought, he added, "I'm sorry."

"She was a wonderful woman, a lioness with a heart of gold. She taught me all I know of Kung Fu... and was a mother figure for me. Grandmaster Oogway must have been the same for you."

He nodded. "My master and surrogate father," he murmured. "Frustrating at times…but of course, that was only because _I_ insisted on being difficult."

Ah-lam chuckled, and then grew somber. "It must be difficult," she said.

"What?"

"To lead your students," she clarified. "And to be the Grandmaster of Kung Fu."

"Without my master's guidance? You have no idea." He buried the piece of dried food in the sand, as he couldn't burn it** (A/N: for an explanation, please check out the aforementioned website)**. "He's spoken to me once- after his death, I mean- but since that time, I have had no contact with him."

Ah-lam nodded, seemingly unperturbed by the idea of the Grandmaster conversing with the dead. Out from under her midnight-blue cloak, she pulled a small, slightly crushed peony and laid it in front of the memorial. She bowed to the small mound of rocks, and then stood up, offering Shifu a paw. He bowed as well, then took the paw and stood.

"Thank you, Master Ah-lam," he said, nodding his thanks.

She returned the nod with a bow. "It was no trouble, Grandmaster."

She was about to walk away when Shifu said, "No more formalities, Master Ah-lam. Please, call me Shifu."

She turned, surprised. Then, she nodded graciously. "And I Ah-lam."

They both smiled slightly, the mountain cat perhaps a bit confused, and then turned and walked back towards the six.

**Tigress and Po**

The small mound of rocks sat in front of them, almost foreboding. Both the bear and the tiger were kneeling in front of it.

The other four were waiting nearby, having no memorial to make, but Tigress barely noticed them. Her concentration was fully on what she- _they_- were about to do.

"Let's go," she said, placing the last rock on the memorial. She felt Po take her paw, and she clenched it tightly.

"Uh- Tigress? Tigress, that kind of hurts…" Po said, his voice a few pitches higher than normal.

She instantly released her grip. "Sorry."

"Naw, it's fine." He gave her a reassuring grin, but it didn't help.

They both closed their eyes. Their plan was very simple: visit the Golden Valley, which was likely connected to the Afterworld, and try to contact Xiao-ping. The chances of it working were somewhere around nil, but it was definitely worth a shot.

Tigress tried to settle her mind, but of course it didn't work. It was as if there was something in the way; a wall that she was afraid to touch. Suddenly, she felt Po drag her through the barrier, his mind quieting hers.

When she opened her eyes, she expected to see the Golden Valley. She couldn't have been more wrong.

They were in what appeared to be a clearing. Bright light shone through the green leaves, which waved gently back and forth in the gentle breeze that whispered through the trees.

"Where…where are we?" Po said uncertainly, looking around.

"Heaven," said a voice from behind. **(A/N: I'm going off Taoism here, which I think has the belief of Heaven and Hell, whereas Buddhism does not).**

They both spun around, where a small white rabbit was standing in between two trees.

Tigress immediately cried out and jerked back. Tripping over her own tail, she fell to the ground, scrambling on her hands and knees. "You're dead!" she yelled. "You- you're-"

"Of course I's dead," Xiao-ping said, his voice that of a small child. "Or more alive, maybe. I's not real sure." He smiled at them. "But how you get here? You still alive, aren't you?"

"Uh- yeah. I kind of hope so," Po said. "'Cause if I'm not, then that would _totally_ suck, you know?"

Xiao-ping shook his head. "No, I don't." He smiled. "It's much nicer here. Everyone likes each other, and no one's not wanted." He looked at Tigress curiously. "You got bigger. Lots bigger."

The tiger master stared back, stunned. She slowly got to her feet. "I- I grew up," she said. It sounded lame, even to her.

"Yu-huang said I have visitors," Xiao-ping said, cocking his head to the side. "Are you them?" **(A/N: Yu-huang is, in Taoism, the Jade Emperor, the High God. He distributes justice and says who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell. There is only one deity above him, Yuan-shih T'ien-tsun, who is First Principle. Yuan-shih T'ien-tsun is said to be the beginning and end. He existed before everything else and is the "Source of All Truth," according to the website mentioned in the disclaimer. To all you other Christians out there, it's hard not to recognize some similarities, huh?)**

"Yeah. So, you're the little rabbit dude we're supposed to talk to, right?" Po said, as Tigress still seemed a little too shell-shocked to answer.

Xiao-ping shrugged. "I don't know. Yu-huang didn't tell me. He just smiled and told me to come here. So I do."

Tigress took a few steps forward, a strange look on her face. It seemed to be something between about to laugh or cry. The next instant, she was kneeling on the ground in front of Xiao-ping, bowing with her face to the ground.

The small rabbit blinked. "Lien-hua? Something bad?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry. I- I never meant to hurt you!"

Xiao-ping was surprised. "Hurt me? You didn't hurt me." When Tigress still didn't rise from the bow, he said, "Was an accident, Lien. You didn't try to."

"But I did," she said, her voice almost a snarl.

"And now I's happy!" the rabbit said, smiling excitedly. "Everything's better here. Everyone likes each other. I even found momma and papa!"

Tigress still hadn't kneeled back up, so Xiao-ping tapped her lightly on the shoulder. The tiger stiffened at the touch, which was light as a feather. "Thank you, Lien. I was sad, and now I happy," Xiao-ping said gently. "But if you still sad 'bout it, I forgive you."

There was a slight pause, and then Tigress lifted her face off the ground. "You…forgive me?" she said, almost disbelievingly.

"Uh-huh!" Xiao-ping said happily.

"But…I murdered you. I _killed_ you," Tigress said, her voice so low it was almost a growl.

"You didn't try to," Xiao-ping said again. "And if you hadn't pushed me out window, I'd be sad much longer!" He jumped forward and hugged Tigress around the neck. "I's really happy now! Momma and Papa and me live in big house an' I's never hungry anymore! I's so happy an' thanks so much 'cause it was you that helped me!"

Tigress hesitantly put her arms up, hugging him back.

"It okay, Lien, you can't hurt me here!" Xiao-ping assured her, felling the nervousness in her touch. Tigress felt a tightness in her throat- she'd been feeling it a lot lately- but she promised herself that she wasn't going to cry.

Xiao-ping jumped off and scampered over to Po. "You Po?" he asked.

"Yep. Dragon Warrior!" Po grinned.

Xiao-ping returned said grin. "Yu-huang said you Lien-hua's 'other half.' I don't know what it mean, but it sound good."

"Xiao-ping?" Tigress asked, her voice still somewhat unsure. "Did you say that you found your parents?"

The bunny turned back around, surprised. "Uh-huh. Oh! Your momma here, too!"

"Hey, Tigress!" Po said. "We can go see her!"

Tigress gave him a look that clearly said, 'really? I never thought of that!', and then said, "Xiao-ping, will you take us?"

"Sure!" The bunny hopped up and down excitedly. "Follow me!" He took off, scampering through the forest.

"Hey! Wait up!" They ran after the rabbit, dashing through the trees.

"Come on! Come on!" Xiao-ping called back, his voice echoing through the forest.

Sounds of giggling began to come from the forest, like half a dozen small children playing a game.

"This way," Tigress said, beckoning with her hands towards the direction of the laughs.

They ran forward. Tigress pushed aside a curtain of branches and stopped.

"Tigress?" Po said, worried. She didn't answer, so he gently nudged her to the side and looked through.

A tiger- she appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties- was sitting on a rock, surrounded by six or seven small children, all laughing and chasing each other around. The tiger was laughing with them, calling out their names.

Tigress took a step towards them. Jia Li looked up, the laughter fading from her face. She stood, seemingly stunned.

Tigress walked forward slowly, as if in a dream. When she was barely a meter from the other tiger, she stopped. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Mother?"

"My daughter," Jia Li said. "Is it truly you?"

Tigress nodded, unsure what to say.

Jia Li extended one paw, brushing it down Tigress' cheek, as if to ensure that she was real. "How did you get here?" she asked. "Are you…"

"Alive," Tigress answered.

"Are you doing all right?" Jia Li said, sounding worried.

"Yes."

Jia Li smiled softly and nodded, as if she knew and was asking for Tigress' sake only. Then her smile fell. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there. But it was not my duty."

"Duty?"

"It was not my duty to raise you. That was the job of someone else."

"Shifu," Tigress murmured.

"Yes."

"But what of a mother?" the tiger master protested. "Who was to be a mother for me?"

"You have only just met her."

Tigress' eyes widened, and then frowned slightly with recognition. "Master Ah-lam." Jia Li nodded. "But why did I have to wait so long?"

Jia Li smiled again, sadly this time. "Everything has its time, Tigress." She glanced past her at Po. "And there are no accidents."

Po grinned a little.

"Speaking of time, it is now yours to leave," Jia Li said.

"But-"

"Tigress," the older tiger said gently. "Your duty is back on earth. Mine is here, watching over them." She gestured to the small animals, who were still dashing about. "Children for all eternity."

"You gave up everything for me," Tigress said quietly. "I- I can never make that up."

"Just take care of your own daughter," Jia Li said.

Startled, Tigress took a step back. "Daughter?"

Jia Li smiled. "Goodbye, Tigress." She settled back onto the rock, and the children crowded around her, laughing and showing her their various toys. A light mist, white and wispy, slowly surrounded the two. It grew darker and darker until Tigress realized that she still had her eyes closed. She slowly opened them, and then sat up with a jerk.

Po did the same beside her. "Whoa."

The other five crowded around the two of them. "Tigress, are you all right?" said Viper, worried.

"What do you mean?" the tiger master asked, once again her cool, collected self.

"You kind of…passed out or something," Crane said.

"Yeah, we thought you were dead," Mantis said.

"No, it was just him," Monkey said, pointing at the bug with his tail.

"I was being sarcastic, dimwit."

"Don't call me a dimwit!"

Shifu pushed through the arguing duo and quickly started checking his two students. "Normal breathing…" He grabbed Tigress' wrist, checked it, and then did the same for Po's. "Normal pulse… Tigress, what's four times three?"

"Twelve," she answered.

"Normal brain function for you. Po, what did Master Charging Ram do at the Mountain of the Giants?"

"He totally _poned _the Ten-thousand Giants of Mortal Destruction!" Po said, striking a few Kung-Fu poses.

"_Usual_ brain function for you."

"Hey!"

"You seem to be all right," Shifu said. "What happened to you two?"

They glanced at each other. "Uh… The whole telekinetic thing, you know," Po said, pointing to his head. "I didn't sleep at all last night, so I passed out, and then she passed out- it's really weird."

Shifu raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that he didn't believe it, but he let it alone. "Alright, then. We should get a start if we want to make any headway today."

"Yes, Master," said everyone but Ah-lam. The cougar merely bowed.

As they all started away from the rocky beach and along the switchbacks that were cut into the cliff side, Shifu wondered if he'd ever find out what really happened.


	14. Chapter 14 Alone in the Woods

Chapter 14

Alicehatter239- Amazing author? Now _I'm_ feeling accomplished and special; you're so sweet! Your stories are awesome; I'm like nada compared to you.

MobileTracker: You've been following this on your PHONE? Wow, that's…like, amazing. You rock.

Carmonator- Ditto here, Carmonator. I'm under the belief that most, if not all, religions are paths to God, and that I was put on the path of a Christian.

**April 7, Day 5, Forests of Eastern China (Approx. 12:00 noon)**

It was something of a surprise to everyone when Master Shifu called a halt, mainly because person *cough slave driver cough* he was didn't appreciate wasting time. Nonetheless, they weren't going to complain about taking a break.

"I have an announcement," he said, turning to face his students. They all looked at him, surprised.

"An announcement, Master?" Tigress said.

"Yes. In three days, we are to meet my family at a large village, by name of Záng Yí. However, before that, we will be losing two of our number for a time. Po, Tigress, to the front."

Confused, both of them stepped forward. "What's up, Master Shifu?" Po said.

"You two are going to be training on your own for three days, and then meet us at the village."

"Alone?" Tigress said, almost before he was done speaking.

"Yes, alone. You, Po-" at this, he turned to the panda, "-Need to learn all of the more physical aspects of Kung Fu. Tigress can teach you these. Master Tigress," here, he pointed to the tiger, "Need to learn how to master Inner Peace."

"But I've already-" they both started, but Shifu cut them off.

"You've learned how to do thee things through my instruction. This does not mean that you have _mastered_ them. I've done everything I can to teach you; it is now time for you to instruct each other."

Po glanced over at Tigress. They were going to be alone. In the woods. For _three days_.And she would be telling him what to do.

There were _soooo_ many ways this could go wrong.

Tigress was thinking roughly along the same lines, though while he was imagining the various tortures that she was liable to put him through, she was concentrating on the fact that they would be completely alone. As in, alone with the man she loved with no one around. At all. Ever.

"Master, are you sure this is a good-" she started, but once again, Master Shifu stopped her.

"Tigress, this is an order, not a request," Shifu said sharply. "I trust you two can control yourselves together?"

A bout of laughter burst out behind them. The other four students had been holding themselves back until now, but this last bit was just too much. Tigress and Po both went red, and the tiger master could feel a vein pulsing in her temple. "Yes, Master," she ground out.

Oh, this could _not _end well.

**Later, Po & Tigress, (Approx. 1:30)**

"Er- Tigress, do you have any idea where we're going?" Po said from behind.

Tigress glanced back at him. They were following a small stream and hadn't seen any sight of Master Shifu or the others. "No."

"So we're lost?"

She rolled her scarlet eyes. "We're not supposed to be 'going' anywhere."

"Oh. Okay….so then why are we walking?"

"Simple. We have to go in the general direction that Master and the others are so we can find a road back after the three days are over. Also, this river we're following give us water. Kapeche?"

"Uh…yeah. I guess."

They walked for about another fifteen minutes before Tigress stopped. It was so sudden that Po almost knocked right into her. "Whoa! Hey, why'd you stop?"

"Because it's time to train," she answered, taking a step toward him with a look that one could only describe as menacing. "And you're going first."

Po gulped. "Yes ma'am."

"Hand me your talisman," she ordered.

"What?"

"I'm not going to be able to train you if I have to listen to every random thought that runs through your head. So we won't be wearing them, understood?"

"Yeah. Completely understood." He quickly handed his over, and she tucked it into a pocket in her black pants. She did the same with her own, and they both sighed with relief as they put their walls back up. After a moment's respite, Tigress returned to the situation at hand.

"Warm ups are first. Twenty pushups."

"Twenty?" he said in disbelief.

"Yes. Twenty normal pushups, and then some modified ones, diamonds, and probably a few knuckles." **(A/N: In my dojo, this is what sensei usually has us do on the days when he's in a bad mood. And that's just the pushups; don't forget about leg-lifts, splits, stretches…)**

Po winced. This was going to be a looooong day…

**After Warm Up (Approx. 2:00 p.m.)**

"Now that that's over, let's do some real training," Tigress said.

"Aren't- we- done- yet?" Po gasped, lying on the ground with his tongue hanging out. Even Master Shifu had never trained him like this.

"Done yet? We've barely started." She watched as he tried to get up, and then offered him a paw. "Get up."

He took it. "Heartless…"

Tigress gave him a dangerous smile that showed her fangs. " 'Pain is just weakness leaving your body,'" she quoted. "I've got three days to make you the greatest Kung Fu fighter in all of China. Being heartless is my job." She yanked him to his feet. "Has Master taught you how to roll yet?"

"Uh…you mean like rolling down a hill?"

"No. Push me."

He stared at her. "Huh?"

"Push me. From behind, as hard as you can."

"Uh…okay. I just hope I don't like hurt you or-" He was going into his 'I'm a Kung-Fu Warrior, Watch Out!' attitude, so Tigress gently cuffed him on the side of the head with the back of her paw. "Ow!"

"Focus, panda. Just push me."

"Okay. Here goes." He walked up behind her and shoved her as hard as he could.

She dove forward into a beautiful roll. To Po, it almost looked like she was summersaulting, only she somehow landed on her feet. It really didn't look all that hard. "Okay, so we can skip this, right?" he said, as Tigress turned to face him.

"Why should we skip it? It's an extremely useful technique."

"Well yeah, but I can do it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then let's see it." She walked up behind him.

"Oh yeah, baby, this is gonna be-" he never got to finish his sentence, because Tigress had just pushed him. He tried to summersault, but only ended up landing flat on his back. "Ooh-hoo hoo…that's going to leave a bruise," he moaned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Fail," Tigress said simply, once again hauling him back up. "Do you even know how to fall?"

"Okay, Tigress, I think everyone knows how to fall."

WHAM! She hit him straight in the chest. He fell down again and hit his head. "OW! What was that for?"

"To show you that you have _no_ idea what you're talking about," she said coolly. "Stop mouthing off and start listening, and I won't push you around."

"Okay. Yeah. The Dragon Warrior gets it," he said, this time getting up by himself.

"Good. We're going to start with the falling." She stood in front of him, put one paw on his elbow and wrapped the other in some of the fur on his chest. "Take my vest and my arm with the opposite hand, just like this," she instructed.

He nodded quickly and did what she'd asked.

"When you fall, you want to tuck your head and tap out on the ground with your other hand," she said. "Make sure to only tap once, and then cover your ear with your paw again."

"Okay. Gotcha."

She showed him how to fall for quite some time. Once they were done, she said, "The next thing you want to learn is how to roll."

"You mean that cool summersault thing you did?"

"Yes, but it's not a summersault." She knelt down on one knee and pointed with her paw towards something or other. Po got down and did the same.

"Keep your arms rounded- more than that, Po. Like this." She stood up and walked behind him, knelt down, and positioned his arms from behind.

They both stopped, going slightly red as they realized the position they were in. "Oh- uh- heh," Po managed, unable to say anything else.

She smiled, and it was very different from her usual bitter smirk. This one held the same warmth about it as when she'd bowed and called him 'Master,' only there was the slightest hint of feline coyness in her eyes this time. Po could feel her warm breath on the back of his neck, and he swallowed nervously.

Then, suddenly, she was back to normal. "Now, put your arm towards the ground like this, and roll from your right shoulder to your left hip…"

They worked rolling from kneels for nearly half an hour. Po felt like he'd nearly broken his neck by the time they were _finally _done.

Or…not. "Stand up," Tigress ordered.

He did so. "Okay, so what are we going to do now? Something totally awesome and Kung Fu-y?"

"You're going to roll from standing up."

"Really? Cool!" He waited a moment, and then said, "So…what do I do?"

"Bend over first. The closer you are to the ground, the better. Then just do what you already have."

"Okay, yeah. No problemo." He straightened up, and then leaned over to do the roll. He was just about to when he, well, chickened out and decided last-second not to do the roll.

Unfortunately, he'd decided too late. "Whoa-ho!" WHAM!  
>Tigress cringed and walked over to him. "That usually happens the first few times," she said, staring down at the panda, who was lying face-first on the ground. "You have to trust your body and your experience."<p>

"Experience? What experience? I've been practicing for half an hour," Po pointed out.

"The ground isn't as far away as it looks," Tigress assured him.

"It's not? Cause right now, it's kind of shoving me in the face," the panda said, his voice muffled.

The tiger master rolled her eyes, and then helped him to his feet for probably the fiftieth time that day. "As stupid and clichéd as it sounds, the ground is your friend: without it, you wouldn't be here. It's not going to hurt you; the only one that's going to do that here is you. Now, do it again and don't be a wimp."

"Yes, Master Tigress," Po said, realizing there was really no way out of this.

They worked for a long time on the rolls, perhaps four or five hours. When Tigress finally decided that he had the basics down, Po asked, "So…when would I use this again?"

"Sometimes you can use it if someone throws you a certain way, or if they push you from behind. If you're trying to dodge an attack or if someone pushes you from the front, you can use a back roll," she answered. "Once you learn to do it continuously, you can even use it when you fall down the palace stairs."

"Whoa, seriously?" the panda said.

"Yes. Master used to push me down those until I finally got my rolls right," she said. **(A/N: My senseis aren't that mean, for which I am grateful. Ouch.)** When she noticed Po's surprised look, she said, "Those stairs are over a hundred feet high. Don't tell me that you thought you're the only one that's ever fallen down them."

"Uh…well, yeah. Kind of," the panda admitted.

Tigress chuckled slightly and then said, "The sun's going down. Should we wrap it up for the day?" She was right; beautiful scarlet and gold light was filtering through the trees. "Let's start a fire; it wouldn't be good to be out here without one." Po agreed, and they started to look for some kindling to start the fire.

"Do you have anything with you to eat?" the tiger master asked, once they had gotten enough wood.

"Some dry noodles, I think, and maybe some seasonings."

"Good. I can't cook to save my life," Tigress admitted, taking one of her knives out of the inside of her vest. She hit it against a piece of flint. A spark jumped off the stone and landed on the wood.

"Maybe I can teach you sometime," Po said, pulling a small box of noodles and a tiny pot out of his pocket and a few tiny jars of seasoning.

Tigress shook her head. "I still don't understand why you keep those in your pocket," she said, blowing gently on the sparks to get the fire higher.

"Hey, you carry knives, I carry noodles. We're both crazy."

Once the fire was high enough, Po started to cook the noodles into an older recipe (not S.I.S.), showing Tigress which spices should be put in, and in which quantities. "There, see? And now we just let it sit for a little while, to let it cool."

"Screw cooling. I'm hungry," Tigress said, taking the pot off the fire. She took pair of chopsticks Po was holding and sticking it straight into the soup.

"Tigress, I don't think that's such a-"

"Mmm. This is good," the tiger master said through a mouthful of soup. Obviously, the fact that it was just under the boiling point didn't bother her.

"Never mind."

Tigress continued to eat her fill of soup, and after a few jealous-filled minutes, Po joined in. Soon, the pot was empty and the fire had been reduced to a few flickering coals. The sun had set fully, and a midnight-blue sky sparkled with stars.

"You know, sometimes I still don't get it," Po said, taking his spices and leftover noodles while Tigress boiled some water from the stream inside the pot to clean it.

Tigress glanced at him over her shoulder. "Don't get what?"

"Why I'm the Dragon Warrior and not you. I mean, you're a seriously awesome fighter, you're brilliant, and you're beautiful… you're, like, the model Dragon Warrior, and I'm just a noodle-loving panda from the village."

"It wasn't my duty," she answered simply, pouring out the boiling water. "My duty was to be the leader of the Furious Five and the Lotus Tiger, and yours was to be the Dragon Warrior."

"Yeah, but…I mean, didn't you ever think that, I don't know, this was all some crazy accident?" he asked, still facing away from her.

She smiled to herself, her back to him. "Perhaps, in the beginning. But I was wrong. Don't you remember what Master Oogway said?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, though he was grinning. "'There are no accidents.'"

"Yes, exactly."

They both turned around, and were surprised to find each other there, nose to nose. They had been moving closer without even knowing it.

They stared at each other for a second, stunned. And then, as if by something other than her own will, Tigress leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his.

This kiss wasn't like the first two, where Po had simply stood there in shock. After an initial moment of surprise, he took the side of her cheek with his hand and kissed her back, noticing everything around him: the breeze that ruffled his fur, the scent of catnip and cinnamon, the feel of her lips against his...

After a few moments, he pulled away. "Wow."

Tigress smiled, still a little surprised herself. It was the first time she'd ever kissed/been kissed like that, and it was something of a shock.

"Hey, erm- we- we, uh, got to- um…" Po was failing miserably in his attempt to form coherent words.

"Meditate?" Tigress said. "You were going to teach me."

"Uh- yeah. That. Uh…" He was still too disoriented to do organize his thoughts, much less teach anything, so Tigress decided it might be a good idea to skip the meditation for that night.

"Why don't we do it tomorrow morning?" she said. "You seem a little… unfocused."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." After a moment, he said again, "Wow."

She smiled wryly. "Get some rest, Po. We're training again tomorrow, and now that you know how to fall, we'll be doing some sparring."

Po considered being afraid, but he was still too stunned to remember how. "I- yeah. Um…goodnight."

She chuckled. "Good night, Po." She laid out the wool blanket that she usually slept on, lay down on it, and closed her eyes.

She lay awake for a long while, still replaying what she'd just done over and over again in her mind. Slowly, she began to grow drowsy.

Just as she was about to fall completely into oblivion, she heard Po whisper through their mind-connection, _I love you, Tigress._


	15. Chapter 15 Finding Courage

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda or Pillsbury Dough.

A/N: Yes, I know they didn't have the Pillsbury Dough Boy back in Ancient China. They didn't have the word 'suck,' either. Deal with it.

Also, the way you should view this chapter is different. In the sparring scene, every time that Po speaks, the 'camera angle' bounces back to him. Then when Tigress/Xun Wei responds, the angle switches back to her/him. The name indicates which character should appear 'on screen.' For instance, when the speaker is Xun Wei, the person seen by Po is Xun Wei. When it's Tigress, that's who Po is seeing there. It's like a huge mental trip.

**April 8, Day 6, Forest (Approx. 4:45 a.m.)**

"Tigress? Tigress, wake up."

A paw gently shook her awake. She blinked a few times, then sat up. "Po? Is something wrong?"

"No. It's time to train."

She glanced around. Her instincts told her that it was still night, but she couldn't see the moon. It seemed that dark rainclouds were covering it up. "It's still dark out."

"Yep."

She waited for an explanation. None forthcoming, she said, "Care to explain why we're up before the sun is?"

"Yeah. Shifu always makes me meditate before the sun rises, and it works pretty well. You know, all focus-y and mediation stuff."

She raised an eyebrow. "It does?" she said doubtfully.

"Uh-huh. Come on, get up." He offered her a paw, and she took it, standing up. "Follow the big fat panda," Po said.

She rolled her eyes and walked after him. He brought her over to a small patch of grass that was worn fairly thin. They stood there and, to Tigress' surprise, didn't sit down into lotus.

"Okay, so, what do you usually do when you meditate?" Po asked.

She stared at him. "What do you mean?" she said slowly.

"What do you focus on? Do you, like, sing to yourself or think about something important or what?"

She blinked. "Nothing, really. I sit there and try not to move."

"Seriously? Nothing?" When she nodded, he said, "Well, that's probably your problem then."

"What are you talking about? Aren't you supposed to clear your mind?"

"Aw, come on, Tigress. You'd have to be a total idiot- don't comment- to get everything out of your mind. It's way easier to focus on one thing."

Surprised, she straightened up slightly. "What do you focus on?"

He shrugged. "Depends. Like, when I'm hungry, I'll probably focus on my dad or something."

"What about when you defeated Shen?" she pressed. "What were thinking of then?"

"Oh. Uh, all of you guys, I guess. When I saw how bad you were hurt after you pushed me out of the way, it made me kind of realize that unless I did something, we were all going to die. And I didn't want to see you dead."

Tigress let that sink in. _He was thinking about us. He found Inner Peace…by thinking of his friends._

"So you just kind of chose something to focus, got it? Something important to you." He closed his eyes, and she did the same.

She knew almost immediately what her focus was going to be. It wasn't very hard at all; after all, this was one of the most important aspects of her life.

"You got something?" Po asked.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Startled, she opened her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"What're you thinking about? If it's not to personal or anything, I mean."

She hesitated for a moment, and then said in a low voice, "Don't laugh." Slowly, she lowered the barriers around her mind.

He took in the picture in his head for a moment, and then said/thought quietly, _I didn't know my eyes were that green._

She went a brilliant shade of crimson under her orange fur and instinctively threw the barriers up again. "If you tell a single living soul, Po, I swear-"

"Nah, nah, I totally get it. I'm not going to tell anyone. Focus on whatever you want to focus." He sounded very nonchalant, but even through the walls around her mind Tigress could feel his stunned satisfaction. "Okay, so just…concentrate and clear your mind of everything else."

She did so, focusing entirely on those sparkling green eyes. But something- something!- just kept nagging at her in the back of her mind.

Rain had started to fall lightly, a small drizzle that somehow seemed colder than ordinary rain. Po started to do the Inner Peace sequence, and Tigress copied him.

For a moment, his face was the only thing in her mind. And then-

_ "Freak! Freak!"_

_ Something hard hit her on the side of the head, knocking her down. Dozens of rocks rained upon her body, bruising her and breaking her bones._

_ She lashed out blindly, the blindfold around her eyes rendering the world she existed in to nothing but darkness and pain._

_ They'd said it was all just a game. The first game she'd played since Xiao-ping's death. She'd thought the others had forgiven her._

_ Another rock hit her, snapping her arm._

_ She'd been wrong._

"No!" she growled, stopping. Po looked over.

"Stop fighting," he said. When she continued to stair at the ground, her fists clenched in pain, he said, "Tigress, what is it? Is it about Xiao-ping?"

"No," she hissed. "Not- not him…"

Po was suddenly in front of her, his paws on her shoulders. "Tigress. What's wrong?"

She opened her mouth to answer, and then winced.

_ "Monster! Die! Die!"_

_ She screamed as another rock hit her head, a splintering pain blasting through it like lighting. "Stop! I don't want to play anymore! Stop!"_

_ "Die!"_

_ More rocks slammed down onto her. She curled up into a small ball, sobbing._

"Come on, Tigress! You're doing it!" Po encouraged her.

But something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong.

_ "You don't deserve to live! Not after what you did to him!" she heard Xun Wei shout. "I'm going to kill you, you no-good monster! I'm going to kill you!"_

_ She screamed again as something long and sharp, perhaps a fire poker, pierced her pelt, just under her ribs. She doubled over, coughing up blood._

_ "Beg!" Xun Wei sneered, sticking her again with the makeshift weapon. "Beg for the mercy you don't deserve."_

_ "I- won't-" she growled._

_ Snarly, he jabbed her with the stick again. She swiped at him, but he was too fast._

_ "I'm going to kill you!" he promised. "Don't you forget that, you ugly tigress!"_

_ He meant the term generically, as she obviously was a female tiger. The other children began to chant it, over and over, as if it were some kind of profanity, a word equal to 'beast.' "Tigress! Tigress! Tigress!"_

"Tigress! Tigress, are you okay?"

Two paws were shaking her roughly, and she realized she'd fallen to the ground, clutching at her stomach.

"Tigress, come on, say something!"

"I can't do it!" she snarled.

He jumped back, startled. "Sure you can," he said. "It just needs practice." When he saw how distraught she still was, he said, "We can try again later."

She nodded, glad that the dark still hid her face. No tears spilled down it this time, no blush stained her cheeks. But her expression was that of absolute terror.

Perhaps Po thought she'd been talking about Inner Peace, but she knew exactly what it was that she couldn't do.

She'd thought that fighting Xun Wei was not going to be easy. She'd been wrong; fighting him was going to be impossible.

**Later, Around Noon**

"Alright, Po, let's do some sparring," Tigress said, getting up off the ground from where he'd thrown her.

"Whoo-hoo!" the panda cheered, running over to the flat spot in the clearing. "Yeah!"

"Don't you ever get tired of sparring?"

"I've spent the last twenty years dreaming about getting to spar a master, and I'm going to spend the next twenty getting that knocked out of me! Come on, this is like every guy's dream!"

Tigress chuckled. "Something tells me that most other men would say differently." She walked over in front of him, bowed, and raised her hands into fighting stance.

They had only been sparring for a minute or so when Po said, "Hold on, wait."

Tigress stopped. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. This isn't at all how Xun Wei would fight. He'd be, like, insulting me and stuff, right?"

Tigress was surprised on his knowledge of the rabbit's fighting tactics for a moment, and then chalked it up to fanboy obsession. "That's true. But don't you think that'd be a little…harsh?"

It was a sentence that the panda had never expected Tigress to say. "Aw, come on! We're warriors, right? Hard-core, and all that? So why not?"

"This isn't a good idea, Po," Tigress warned.

"Come on, Tigress! How am I supposed to beat the little dude if I don't know how to fight him?"

She could see the logic in this, but still she hesitated. "Po, trust me, this is a bad idea."

"What could go wrong? I mean, I know you're not an evil little bunny and so do you. It's just an act."

She closed her scarlet eyes for a moment, still not believing this to be a good idea. "Fine," she said, opening them again. "But you must understand that no matter what I say, it's not true and I'm only doing it to create the scene. Got it?"

"Yeah, totally. Go right ahead and do your stuff."

Tigress closed her eyes once again, longer this time, and when she opened them, Po instantly noted the change. They were harder, fiercer, colder, even more so than her usual gaze. It was like her stare was made of ice, if ice were red.

"You call yourself a Dragon Warrior," she sneered, and her voice was strangely cold and condescending, a true imitation of the high-and-mighty rabbit. "Look at you! Did you ever even believe that you could possibly be a warrior?"

Po felt anger flicker at the back of his mind, and he reminded himself that none of this was real.

"You're just a big, fat panda," Xun Wei continued. "Your Kung Fu is child's play, a shadow-stage of true power."

"Yeah?" Po countered. "Then how come I totally kicked the skadoosh out of Tai Lung and Shen?"

Tigress snorted. "Fool. Don't you understand?"

"I understand plenty. And you'd better watch out, shorty, because I'm going to do the same thing to you!"

"You don't understand anything," Xun retorted. "Don't you get it?"

"Get what?" the panda said, sounding pretty cocky.

"Oh, poor fool," she said, her voice dripping with fake pity. "You want to know so badly, and you don't even understand that I'm doing you a favor by not telling you."

"Okay, that doesn't even make sense."

"Make sense of this," said Xun Wei shouted, attacking. "Those people you call friends? They don't care about you at all."

"Hey!" Po yelled back, deflecting the blow and returning it with one of his own. "They do to care about me! They're my friends, and they'd never ditch me!"

"People who care about each other don't lie, do they?" she said, aiming a kick at his chest.

"Nobody's lying to me!" He blocked the kick.  
>"Don't believe me?" Xun Wei sneered. "Get this straight, Panda: They don't care about you. None of them do." Po couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Not the bug, not the snake, not the bird, not the monkey, not Master Shifu, not even the tiger you seem to trust so much."<p>

"Don't talk like that about Tigress!" Po yelled.

"She could never love you!" Tigress said back. "You're an ugly, stupid, no-good, _fat_ panda that everybody laughs at when you're not looking!"

"SHUT UP!"

The word rang throughout the clearing, stopping the tiger in her tracks.

"Shut up!" Po yelled again. "I- I'm not-" he turned around and ran a few paces away, before he inevitably tripped and fell down onto his back. He sat up again and didn't look at her.

She quietly walked over to him. "Who was that to?" she asked quietly.

"What?" he said, his voice unsteady.

"Who were you yelling at, Xun Wei or I?"

He didn't answer for a moment, before saying "Both of you, I guess."

"I'm sorry," Tigress said, drawing a sharp, surprised breath from the panda. "I thought you knew I wasn't going to hold back."

Po was silent for a moment, before he said, "Do it without me."

She froze. "What?"

"Fight Xun Wei without me. If I can't take the insults, then I'll only be a disadvantage to you in a fight."

Tigress felt a thrill of terror race through her veins. "No. Po. I need you there with me; I can't do what you can."

"You're Master Tigress! You can do anything!" When it looked like she was about to object, he said, "You just need some more practice when it comes to mediation is all-"

"I don't mean Inner Peace," she growled. "I mean that I can't fight Xun Wei, with you or without." When she saw the surprised look on his face, she growled at him. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Tigress, you can-"

"No I can't!" she roared, finally snapping. "I'm not you, Po! I'm not the Dragon Warrior! I can't do this!"

He was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed. "What, and you think I can?" he yelled back. "You're the leader of the Furious Five! I'm just a big fat panda!"

"You're-"

"You think this isn't tough on me too? I never wanted to _see_ that bunny, let alone_ fight_ him again!"

"Well-" Suddenly, she stopped. "Again?"

Po seemed at a loss for words and got that close-lipped look he had every time he didn't want to spill the beans.

"You knew him, too?" When he still didn't talk, she took him by the shoulders. "Po, talk to me."

"Yeah," the panda admitted bitterly. "He and his little group of buddies used to make fun of me every day when I'd go to the market a few streets over for ingredients."

"How come you never told us?" Tigress asked.

He shrugged. "Aw, come on. We're warriors, you know? 'Feel no pain' and stuff. Besides, you were having a way worse time than me."

"What'd he do to you?" Tigress asked, morbidly curious about this small bit of common ground.

"Pretty much just the standard name calling and stuff. 'Fatso, chubby, fat-$$...' Oh, and don't forget his favorite, the 'Pillsbury _Po_ Boy,'" the panda grumbled. "So you get why I can't fight him, either?"

"No," Tigress answered. "I thought you'd want to kick the living crap out of him for what he did to you." He glanced away. "Po," she said seriously. "You've never given up before. Even when we were trying to get rid of you, you didn't quit. You never stopped trying, no matter what happened." She looked him dead in the eyes. "So why are you giving up now?"

He winced. "Okay, fine. Look, I'm not like you guys, alright? You and the others have all got like pure awesomeness and technique for your style. My style is almost dying a bajillion times and running for my life."

"Your point? It's worked so far," she said.

"Yeah, when it was just the other guy and me one on one!" he said angrily. "But you're in this too now, and if I do something really stupid and end up bleeding on the ground, you'll be left alone to fight that demented little bunny."

There was a moment's silence, before Tigress said, "Who are you?"

He stared back for a moment. "What?"

"The Dragon Warrior I know never would have quit like this. He would have kept fighting, even to the death."

"Yeah? Well maybe I'm not that great of a great Dragon Warrior. Maybe I'm just-"

"A fat panda," she finished. "A big, fat, stupid panda."

His mouth opened slightly, obviously shocked and hurt by the words.

"Is that really what you think of yourself, Po?" she demanded. "Is that all you believe yourself to be?" He opened his mouth to answer, but Tigress cut him off. "You defeated two of the greatest threats China's ever seen, Tai Lung and Lord Shen. You found Inner Peace. You've become a Kung Fu master!" Her face was formed into a determined snarl. "All these things you've done, you did them with more honor and integrity than anyone else could have. Over and over, you've survived incredible odds, by your own skill! That was you, Po! Not some lofty master, not a legendary warrior, you! That was you, that was this!" She prodded him in the stomach. "This- _this_ is what I fell in love with, _this_ is what makes up the Dragon Warrior! Don't you remember what I told you, about what makes up a warrior? Courage and integrity and determination! You have that, Po. You have the courage to do what's right even when it's hard, the determination to stick to what you believe in no matter who tells you differently. _That's_ what's important, that's why you were chosen as the Dragon Warrior! And no one, _no one_ can ever take that away from you!"

He nodded, eyes wide with shock. Then he grinned. "You've got it too, Tigress. And we're going into that fight together."

It was her turn to be stunned. For a moment, she just sat there, before she slowly started to smile. "Together," she promised, dipping her head into a slight bow. Then she stood up. "Back to training," she said, offering him a paw. "Regular sparring this time."

He grinned and took her paw. She pulled him to his feet, and then backed away. She put her arms up into ready stance.

"Oh, and Po?" she said. "One thing to remember: You're not a big fat panda. You're _my_ big fat panda."

Po grinned and raised his arms up as well. After a moment's hesitation, they both began to fight.


	16. Chapter 16 Fluff!

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. I got my Chinese characters from http: /www .mandarintools .com /cgi-bin/ wordlook .pl and the word 'love' from http: /www .youtube .com /watch?v=qP7wE_clJLc .

Tremomaru: Uh…okay, I hate to be contradictory to a reviewer, but why was it darker? The whole declawing thing in EOTD was the bloodiest, darkest thing I've ever written, and I'm kind of confused on where you're coming from with this…

**That night (Approx. 8:00 p.m., over dinner)**

Hasty characters flew across the page in sprawling black writing, the ink dark as midnight on the creased parchment. So engrossed was the tiger master in her writing that she didn't notice the panda gazing wistfully over her shoulder.

She mouthed the words as she wrote them, pausing occasionally and scribbling out a character every so often. As Po watched, she wrote:

是 昏 關 於 破。 他 是 報有 一個 不良期 根 此。

**(A/N: This roughly means, "I am worried about Po. He is have bad time with this," in traditional Pinyin, which is extremely similar to Japanese writing. For you manga fans out there, the Ai, or 'Love' character below should look very familiar.)**

She heard him shift behind her, and glanced over her shoulder in surprise. "Yes?"

"Oh, uh, nothing."

She went back to writing, and once again felt/heard him look back at her paper again a few seconds later. "Po."

"Alright, alright! I get it. It's just cool and stuff. I mean, I can only read like every ten words, but I know you're saying something about me."

She went slightly red, and then said, "We're the only two out here; you're going to be mentioned once or twice."

He laughed a little at that, and then said, "Like I said, it's cool. I mean, you can write _and_ do Kung Fu. You don't see that in a lot of people."

She smiled slightly, and then said, "Come over here, beside me. I want to show you something."

Surprised, he crawled over beside her. "Yeah?"

She flipped over the paper and said, "I'm going to teach you some characters."

He grinned. "Whoa, seriously? That's like awesome."

She smiled. "Each character is made up of other characters. Like this." She wrote down a symbol on the paper in dark, even strokes:

愛

"That's 'love,'" Tigress said. "It's one of the characters I know best."

"Oh. Cool. So…how do you remember it?"

"That's the interesting part." She drew another symbol, the one for man, and put a woman's 'crossed leg' over it, though the leg was pointing right and over the man's leg, instead of left and over her own. "A man an and woman," she said. She drew another symbol, this one for heart. "They're holding up their heart together." She put another line, this one with a small dash on either side, above the figures. "Put them under a roof, their home." Finally, she drew short vertical lines connected by a long horizontal line over the top of the roof. "And then a tiger's claw."

"Okay, so…a man and a woman, holding up their heart in their house, with a tiger claw on top?" Po said, trying to memorize it all.

"Yes, exactly."

"Whoa. That's, like, severely cool."

"Yes, it is." She smiled.

**The Others (Approx. 8:00 p.m.)**

Viper slithered through the green grass, smiling softly to herself and humming. She didn't know why she was in such a good mood, perhaps it was the cool breeze or the midnight blue sky, which sparkled with a million stars. She glanced up at said stars, admiring how they glittered like diamonds.

She was looking so closely at the stars that she nearly knocked into one long leg. "Oh, Crane," she said, surprised. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump you."

The bird shifted his feathers and put his other leg down. "No trouble, Viper. I wasn't paying attention, either." There was a slight pause, before Crane said, "What were you looking at?"

Viper blinked. "Just the stars. They're very pretty tonight."

"Yes." He glanced up at the sky. "It's cold up there tonight. No sun to warm it, and no thermals left over from earlier today."

"Is that why you're down here?" the snake questioned.

"Partially." He didn't elaborate.

There was a long, though not uncomfortable silence between them. After a while, Viper said, "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Flying," she said. "Is it as wonderful as it looks?"

Crane was surprised. "You've flown before. I carried you when you were sick, remember?"

"No, I was too weak to really pay attention," she said wistfully. "It must be great."

He hesitated a moment, and then said, "Would you like to fly, Viper? I can take you for a flight, if you'd like."

She glanced up at him, surprised. "I'd like that," she said softly.

He motioned with his wing, and she slithered up around his legs and onto his long neck, coiling around it. "Sorry," she said quietly, blushing.

"Oh, uh, no problem," he said, also going red. "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Without waiting for another second, he took off into the night sky.

The night air whipped past them, the usually perfect airstream slightly distorted by the snake.

"Wow," Viper breathed. "This is…amazing."

He smiled a little bit and nodded, his beak dipping slightly.

They passed through some light clouds. Viper flicked her tongue out slightly and tasted the moistness of them.

Then, suddenly, they broke through it into the starry sky. The moon shone brightly overhead, casting moonbeams down through the few dotted clouds below and onto the ground. Viper looked above her and tried to count the bazillion different stars that seemed almost close enough to touch.

"Viper," he said, after a while. "Would you like to see what diving is like?"

**On the Ground**

"What is it you wanted to show me, Shifu?" Ah-lam said, chuckling and keeping her eyes closed.

"Patience, Ah-lam."

"Hm. You always were one for morals and virtues, Grandmaster."

"And how would you know? Before now, I've only seen you every Winter Festival." He lead her forward a few more steps and then had her stop. "Alright, now…open your eyes."

She did so, and then gasped.

A beautiful waterfall, clear as glass, flowed over the edge of a tall cliff. At the top of the cliff were two natural stone spires on either side of the waterfall, nearly brushing against the underside of the moon, which was full. The waterfall cascaded into a small brook,

"How did you find this?" she asked, her crow's lines crinkling as she laughed in amazement. "It's beautiful."

"I traveled through this area many years ago with my master," Shifu answered. "He brought me to this place to meditate."

"It is…quite amazing," Ah-lam said. "But why would you show me?"

Shifu didn't answer.

"Grandmaster?" she said, and looked down in worry.

"Master Ah-lam, I have a confession to make," he said with a sigh. "Ever since the winter of my fifteenth year, I have noticed you out of all the other masters. Only now has this slight habit of observation evolved into something more."

Ah-lam was, to say the least, thunderstruck. She was no longer in her prime by any standards, her beauty was not nearly as much as it had been in her younger years, and she was no noble woman or anyone of wife material, but somehow the Grandmaster himself was telling her that he perhaps had feelings for her. "Grandmaster-"

"I understand that you likely have no such feelings for me, Master Ah-lam, but I believe that you have a right to know. I am also aware of the complications this would pose, as us both being masters and teachers, and-"

"You always talk too much, Grandmaster," Ah-lam said, cutting him off, "and you always assume the worst."

Shifu blinked, surprised for once. "I- I don't understand-"

"You are not wrong to feel the way you do, and your affections are requited," she said, bowing graciously.

Stunned, the red panda stood there for a moment, before bowing back. "You…return my feelings?"

"Yes, I do. And not just because fifty year old mountain cats don't often get courting offers, either."

He chuckled. "Fifty year old red pandas usually don't have their offers accepted."

They both smiled, and then Ah-lam said, "You say that Grandmaster Oogway brought you here to meditate?"

"Yes. That is why I wanted to show you this in the first place. If you don't wish to, of course, I understand-"

"No, no, I'd like to," she said. He gestured towards the ground in front of the brook, and she sat down with a grateful nod. He positioned his staff vertically and jumped on top of it, perfectly balanced.

A few moments of peaceful silence passed, before someone a ways away let out a loud shout (most likely Monkey and Mantis having a stupid argument). It shouldn't have startled either master, but Shifu's head instinctively jerked up at the sound of one of his students' voices. The motion caused the staff to tip, and before he could regain the balance, he fell off it, landing on Master Ah-lam's lap.

"Master Ah-lam, my apologies, I didn't mean to- please excuse me!" he said, flustered.

"It's no trouble, Grandmaster, none at all," Ah-lam said, just as surprised. She tried to help him up, and only succeeded in bringing him into a loose embrace.

She was about to let him go when their eyes met. Brown locked onto blue.

Slowly they leaned in, their silhouettes framed against the brilliant white moon.

Suddenly, two figures came crashing into the clearing from above. Crane barely managed to land in time to remain on his feet. "Sorry, Viper! I didn't think that would happen if we tried that."

"I guess that there're some things people like us shouldn't try together…" Viper said, slithering off of him.

Suddenly, all four figures noticed each other at the same time. They all froze, seemingly stunned and not a little embarrassed. There was an awkward pause, before they all said loudly at the same time, "It's not what you think!"

**A/N: Hope you liked that! I won't be able to post for a bit, mis disculpas.**


	17. Chapter 17 The 'Good' Father

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

** A/N: I'm baaaaack!**

"When one has not had a good father, one must create one." - **Friedrich Nietzsche . **(http :/www .brainyquote .com/ quotes/keywords /father. html )

**April 9, Day 7 (Sunrise)**

Tigress looked over at Po, ugly jealousy nagging at her and making her task even harder.

How could he find Inner Peace so easily? It came so naturally to him; she'd only felt it once before, at the moment before her planned execution. If she had to wait until she was about to die to be at peace, she wasn't going to live very long at all.

She still didn't understand what was wrong, why she couldn't find peace. She'd made her peace with Xiao-ping, hadn't she?

She shifted slightly in her position, and Po opened his eyes. "Master Tigress? Is something up?"

"No," she lied easily. "I'm fine."

He studied her for a moment. "No you're not."

"Of course I am. What would be wrong?"

Po stood up and walked over to her, looking her in the eyes. "Tigress."

She looked away.

"Tigress, you have to forgive yourself for this." When she still wouldn't look at him, he said, "Xiao-ping forgave you. Shifu forgave you. I forgave you. Why can't you forgive yourself?"

There was a moment's silence before Tigress finally said, "Go back to meditating, Po."

"But-"

"Now!" she snapped, expecting him to back away in fear. But, as usual when it came to this panda, she was mistaken.

"No!" he yelled. "No, Tigress! I can't take this anymore! I can't take watching you shut yourself in and beat yourself up over this! I love you and I want to help you, but you won't let me!"

"And that's the way it should be!" she snarled.

"Why? Why won't you let anyone help you?" At her continued silence, he grabbed her fiercely by the shoulders. "Tell me," he ordered.

"No."

"_Tell me!_" When she still refused, he lost his uncharacteristic bravado and looked her dead in the eye, saying, "Please, Tigress. Please."

She cringed at his gaze, as if he were going to condemn her. "Because," she said, pushing off his shoulder, "if I forgive myself, I'll lose control again."

"Tigress, that doesn't make any-"

"I can't let it go!" she snapped, finally losing her temper. "For years, this- this guilt has been keeping me in line, protecting me from losing my temper! If I forgave myself and let it go, I'd lose control of myself again." She closed her eyes. "I haven't lost my temper in twenty years. If I do now, what with my skills and strength…someone will get hurt." She opened them again, her angry gaze like fire. "What if it's someone I care about?" she said. "What if it's Master Shifu, or one of the others?" She looked him dead in the eye. "Po, what if it's you?"

"It won't be," he promised. "It won't be me, or the others, or anyone."

"How do you know?" she demanded.

"Because you're one of the strongest people I know," he said seriously. "You have more self-control than anyone I've ever met. Maybe you don't trust yourself, but I do. And if anything does happen- which it's not- I'm going to be right there to stop you." He pulled her into a strong embrace, making her feel like a small child.

It was so…warm. Comforting. She closed her eyes.

"I forgive you, Tigress," Po said. "And I don't blame you for what happened. I never have."

At these words, she felt hot tears start to leak from her closed eyes. "I-"

"Forgive yourself, Tigress. Maybe you made a mistake, but that's all it was: a mistake. You never meant to do it, and you're not evil. Trust me on this, Tigress: You. Are. Not. Evil."

His words hit her directly in the heart, conviction flooding through her as the truth in his words finally rang true. The few tears that had been trailing down her face soon turned into a torrent as she cried openly and completely for the first time in nearly two decades. Not trying to hide it or pretend that it was rain, not attempting to stifle them and stop the flow, but openly weeping. The tears were not of a bitter, angry sort, but rather a cleansing rain that comforted her as she finally, after twenty years of living with the guilt, forgave herself for what she'd done.

When she was done, she realized that she'd never been more…at peace. Slowly, she pulled away from the embrace, eyes closed, and stood up. Po realize what she was about to do and took a few steps back.

Tigress circled her arms before her body, moving her foot out at the same time. She rose one paw into the air, and as if someone above was watching down on them, a single drop of rain fell directly onto her paw, glowing a fiery gold-red as it caught the light of the rising sun. She fluidly dropped her arm, depositing the bead of water into her other hand, and then back into the first. Slowly, she dropped it onto a blade of grass, which bent forward and touched it to the earth.

Slowly, she opened her scarlet eyes.

"WHOO HOO!" Po cheered. "YEAH! YOU GOT IT! WHOOO HOOOO!"

"Well. I had a good teacher," she said, her usual small smile settling onto her face. "We should get started; we need to get to Záng Yí by sundown to meet Master Shifu and the others."

"Yeah, but they're like three days ahead of us," Po pointed out. "We've been in one spot the entire time; we'll never get there in time."

"This is the last part of your training," Tigress said, her grin vanishing. Po gulped; this couldn't be good. "We will be running there."

"All the way?" he said.

"No. We'll walk some, run some, take breaks… if you run too far for too long, you get sick." **(A/N: Very true. I once ran four miles straight in an hour for a school thing, without stops {which is a lot harder than it looks}. I nearly puked, but I got the most miles in my class).**

"Oh. I guess that won't be that bad…"

Tigress grinned grimly. Poor naïve panda.

**That Night (Approx. 7:00 p.m.) (Sunset)**

"Can't- breath-" Po gasped, dragging himself forward with his hands.

Tigress rolled her eyes. She was panting herself, and had a wicked side-ache, not to mention any number of sore joints that would take a few days to go away. "I never said it would be easy."

She hauled him to his feet and said, "The city gates are just ahead. Come on."

They walked through them, unnoticed among the crowds that pressed their way through the open gates, hoping to get in before the curfew (closing time). Though most of the people were shorter than them (the majority of villagers were red pandas), there were enough tall people to hide them.

"We need to find Lord Huang-fu Jin, the former ruler of the city," Tigress said. "I think that's his name, anyway; Shifu never talked about his family much."

"Okay, so if he's like this old rich red panda dude, then he'll be in some fancy house, right?"

"That's true, but-"

"Tigress! Po!"

Both masters turned around at their names. The other six were on the other side of the street, surrounded by a gaggle of onlookers.

Po and Tigress ran over, gently nudging fans aside. "Good, you got here on time," Shifu said. "I know where the Lord's house is." Everyone noticed how he referred to his father by title instead of epithet, but everyone except Master Ah-lam and Tigress contributed it to the red panda's nature.

They quickly walked through the streets, the crowds thinning as they went. Soon, they came to a heavily walled mansion.

"Whoa," Po said. "That's, like…huge."

Shifu did not answer, but rather walked up to the huge doors and banged on them three times with his staff.

As small slot opened in the door, right about Po's eye level. "State your name and purpose," a deep, gravely voice said.

"We are travelers, by the names of Grandmaster Shifu, Master Ah-lam of the Dai Li academy, the Furious Five, and the Dragon Warrior," Shifu said. "We are here to accept the courtesy of Lord Huang-fu Jin and his household."

The slot closed, and with a grinding sound the huge doors opened. The speaker, a large bull, bowed to Shifu. "Welcome, Grandmaster and returning son of Lord Jin. And welcome also, young masters and Master Ah-lam," he said, this time bowing to the rest of the group. "The Lord and Lady of the house are waiting for you in the main hall."

"Thank you," Shifu said, bowing back. Though he seemed polite and controlled, Ah-lam noticed his expression fall for a second while he bowed and subtly moved to stand just behind him for support.

They walked through the gardens up to the front door to the mansion, Shifu in the lead. At the sight of the door, he hesitated a moment, and then pushed it open.

Two red pandas, about seventy years in age, stood in front of them in the middle of an expansive and lavish hall that was decorated with red and white jade. One wore the robes of a lord, and the other of a lady. Po guessed that they were Master Shifu's parents.

The small group walked into the hall. A moment's hesitation passed, before Shifu knelt on the ground and bowed his head. His students and Ah-lam followed his lead. "Lord Huang-fu Jin," he said, his voice very respectful, "It is truly an honor to be accepted into your household."

"No, Grandmaster. It is _our_ honor to have you here," said Lord Jin. "Come, you must sup with us tonight." **(A/N: Sup= dine)**

Shifu got to his feet, his head still down. "Thank you for your courtesy," he said. "Students, come along."

**Dinner**

"Whoa. This is, like, seriously amazing," Po said, tasting the dumpling soup. "You've got to give me the recipe for this."

"You cook, Dragon Warrior?" Lady Jin asked politely. "You must be from a long line of chefs."

"Uh…kind of, I guess," Po said. "I mean, my dad owns this noodle shop in the village and stuff, so…"

"Oh. I- I see," Lady Jin said, obviously not expecting that answer.

The uncomfortable silence resumed, as everyone tried very hard not to look at each other. Finally, when the tension in the room seemed to be at breaking point, Shifu suddenly asked, "How is my brother, Déshi? **(A/N: 'Virtuous Man')**."

"Oh, he's ruling the city, of course," Lord Jin said, his voice swelling with pride. "He was promised the title after you left, as the next son in line. A right chip off the old block, Déshi."

"Yes, such honor he's brought to the family- Oh, not that you didn't bring us honor, too, Shifu dear," Lady Jin said affectionately. "It's just not the same kind."

"Hmph. I'll say," Huang-fu said, chuckling as if he'd made a brilliant joke.

Everyone but the two nobles and their son glanced around at each other; maybe it was just their imaginations, but it seemed like Lord Jin had just insulted Master Shifu.

It would have been respectful to remain silent and let this pass, but Po (never the one to remember good conduct) said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing of impor-" Lady Jin started, but Lord Jin cut her off.

"We just expected more, is all. Disappointment is a sour tonic to swallow, but swallow it we did, and everything's as it should be."

A moment of stunned silence passed, before Shifu said in a low voice, "Disappointment, father?"

Everyone started slightly at the word; it was the first parental title Shifu had ever used towards the man.

"Yes, disappointment," Huang-fu agreed.

"How so?" Shifu replied, as if they were only discussing the weather.

"Dear, really, he didn't mean anything by it!" Lady Jin protested.

"Peace, mother. I only wish to hear my father's reasoning." Shifu looked at Lord Jin expectantly.

"It's nothing of consequence, Shifu. We simply thought- incorrectly, obviously- that your path was different than this. Being the Grandmaster of Kung Fu…it's an honor, of course, but we really did believe that you were destined for greatness."

"Greatness?" Shifu said, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yes. We thought your fate was to be the Dragon Warrior."

It was as if the entire world had stopped moving. Most of the people in the room were shocked by the statement, but for two of the number were affected more than most. Shifu and Po glanced at each other, absolutely stunned.

"You cannot mean that," Shifu said, after regaining his power of speech. There was a hint of anger in his voice.

"Well, of course we mean it! When Grandmaster Oogway- may he rest in peace forever- came to our doorstep after one more of your petty street fights and asked to take you to the Jade Palace, we assumed that it was to train you to be the Dragon Warrior."

"My Master made it very clear that I was not the Dragon Warrior!" Shifu said angrily. "That was not my path. My responsibility was to train the true Dragon Warrior, not to be him!"

"Well you didn't do so good at that job either, did you?" Lord Jin demanded. "You 'chose' the wrong person not once, but twice! And then you show up at our doorstep-"

"You invited us here!"

"-with this _commoner_ as your student! How on earth could he be the Dragon Warrior! I mean, look at him!"

"Hey, watch it, buddy!" Po said indignantly.

"We're supposed to believe that he's the Dragon Warrior?" Huang-fu said angrily. He pointed to Ah-lam. "And I suppose this harlot here is the empress in disguise?"

"How dare you!" Shifu said, outraged. "Master Po, along with the help of my other students, has defeated any number of threats to the Valley of Peace and three to China. Master Ah-lam is a respected martial arts instructor at the Dai Li academy, and I'm courting her nonetheless!"

This drew a sharp, surprised breath from everyone but Ah-lam, Crane, and Viper (who of course knew).

"Courting her?" Lord Jin said in a low voice. "Courting her? She's a mountain lioness! You dare to court outside your species?"

"I am fifty years old, father, your racist opinions have no sway over my relationships!"

"You are a disgrace to our name!" Lord Jin shouted. "A traitor to your own blood! But perhaps I should have expected this out of such a _useless_ son."

The words rang through the air, freezing all forms of defense. Huang-fu continued.

"You were never the type to just do your duty, Shifu. Always getting into fights with your own kin on race and species. We stick to our own! To our family!"

"And you are not my family!" Shifu thundered. "By blood I am your son, but my Master was always the father you could never be to me."

"How dare-"

"I have not received any correspondence from you in nearly forty years! I wasn't even aware that any of you were still alive!"

"We didn't want to interrupt your training!" Huang-fu said. "We thought you were to be the savior of China. We thought that you were destined for greatness! How did you expect us to react to this disappointment, to your failure? You are worthless and have _shamed _our family!"

Again, the room fell dead quiet, all stunned. There was a moment's silence, before Shifu said bitterly, "Then I am sorry that I was not all you wished me to be." He closed his eyes for a moment, before he jumped out of his chair and took his staff. He bowed, and said coldly, "Please take care of my students for the night, as they have done nothing to offend you. I will seek lodging elsewhere." And with that, he turned and left.

Everyone stared for a few moments at where he had been, before Tigress suddenly thrust her chair back with a large squeaking sound.

"As will I," she said, her teeth barred in an effort to retain her temper. "You have insulted my master and my father. You think that _he_ has brought shame to your family? You have just called the Grandmaster of Kung Fu worthless, and while I live I will not stay under the same roof as someone so dishonorable." Without bothering to bow, she turned and followed her master.

That was when the chain reaction started. Po and Ah-lam stood up at the same time. "Yeah, same here, buddy!" Po said angrily. "You can't talk to Master Shifu like that!"

"The Grandmaster has brought infinite honor to your family, and yet you dare to call him useless?" Ah-lam said, her usually calm exterior suddenly icy. Cerulean eyes flashing, she followed Tigress without another word, Po just behind her.

Viper and Crane also got up/slithered down. Crane left without saying anything. Viper would have, too, except for that she hissed "Jerk!" when she slithered by Lord Jin.

Monkey and Mantis stood up, too. "Not cool, dude. Not cool at all," Mantis said.

"Yeah," Monkey agreed. "Let's go."

And then, suddenly, the room was empty of all but Lord and Lady Jin. The two nobles just sat there, wondering what they'd done wrong.

**Outside**

"Master? Master, where are you?"

Tigress' words were whipped away from her by the cold, bitter wind that had sprang up. A black blanket of clouds covered the sky, and there was lightning in the distance.

"Master!" she called again, scanning the dark streets with her cat's vision. Suddenly, she spotted a small figure walking alone, holding a tall staff.

"Master," she said, coming up behind him. Shifu turned.

"Tigress," he said with a sigh. "Aren't you supposed to be in Lord Jin's house?"

"I refuse to stay in the same building as that ungrateful nobody," Tigress growled.

"Hm. He's the lord of the city, I wouldn't exactly call him a nobody," Shifu reasoned, his voice bitter.

"He insulted you and called you worthless, Master. I will not remain in the company of such a hypocrite, and your own sire nonetheless." She shook her head in disdain.

"I wonder how he could be so…" For the first time in a while, the words he was searching for were out of reach.

"Demanding?" Tigress said.

"Yes, exactly."

"Parents only want what's best for their children," Tigress said, looking off into the distance. "They don't want them hurt, and they don't want their own mistakes to affect their kids. Sometimes, they go so far in an attempt to protect them that they hold back their love and focus them entirely on duty."

Shifu looked at her, suddenly very guilty. He knew who she was describing. "Tigress, I'm…"

"You don't need to apologize, Master," she said, her red gaze locked on him. "You have already paid your debt to me. But they," at this, she pointed back towards the mansion, "They have not paid their debt to _you_. They owe you for the years you spent without correspondence, for the decades you spent giving your blood, sweat and tears to training for your destiny. They owe you for never telling you they loved you."

"Why didn't you quit?" Shifu asked. "All those years, when I never gave you even the slightest hint of affection… Why didn't you refuse to train, or run away?"

She smiled slightly to herself. "I didn't run because I wanted that. I wanted to become Master Tigress, and not Tigress the Monster. Every time you made me punch the ironwood trees, or face the obstacle course, it hurt, but it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being me."

Shifu let out a small, sad chuckle as he heard the familiar line. "You eavesdrop too much for your own good."

Tigress brushed this aside. "They owe you, Shifu. They owe you for calling you useless and treating you like dirt."

Shifu snorted. "They've always done so; I doubt that anything would change their minds."

"Master, forgive me for my impudence, but they're your parents. They love you," said Tigress. "If you talk to them, I'm sure-"

"They won't listen," he said sharply. "Their idea of parental affection consisted of lecturing me on the superiority of our race and ordering me not to get into more fights."

"Fights, Master?" Tigress said curiously.

He clenched his jaw. "I was constantly in fights with my cousins when I was younger. They were all racist bigots like my parents, and as I was the smallest of my family, I didn't often win. While Master Oogway was traveling through this town, he found me knocked out after a fight and brought me home to my parents. He offered to train me, and my parents were only too anxious to send their weakling son away."

Tigress felt like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest. _Weakling son? They really called him that?_ Even in all of her years of training with the harsh master, he'd never called her useless or weak. It had always been, 'You must become stronger,' or 'You cannot fulfill your destiny if you don't learn more.' But never had it been 'weak' or 'useless.' Then, her expression hardened into that of fierce determination.

"You are the Grandmaster of Kung Fu," she said, "defeater of Striking Crow and Lunging Snake. You've trained the six best masters in all of China and are courting the seventh. You _were_ destined for greatness, and greatness you have achieved. You are my master and my father, and nothing that those ungrateful cowards say could ever change that."

"She's right," another voice said from behind. Shifu turned, surprised, and saw Master Ah-lam standing there. "They have no idea of the work and faith you've put into yourself and your students. Their opinions on what your path should be have no sway over what it truly is."

"Yeah, totally," Po agreed, coming up behind her. All of his other students followed just behind. "I mean, I'd be the worst Dragon Warrior _ever_ without your training." The others nodded and agreed.

"You all left the house?" Shifu said, surprised.

"'Course we did, Master," Mantis said.

"Nobody insults you and gets away with it," Viper added. Crane nodded.

"Your loyalty is admirable," Shifu said, "But truly, you don't need to do this."

"Yes, we do," said Monkey. "You're our Master."

"It's not like they'd let is back in again, anyway," Po pointed out.

"We're with you, Grandmaster," Ah-lam said, smiling kindly. "If you aren't welcome somewhere, than neither are we."

Shifu smiled slightly and bowed to them. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"Yeah, no problem, Master," said Po. "Now, let's go find somewhere else to stay, huh?"

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Shifu agreed. "I remember a small inn that stood a few streets away; if it's still in business, we can lodge there for the night."

As they walked a long the streets, the mood seemed to lighten and the eight of them started to joke around. Even so, Shifu knew that this newly created family feud would not be over anytime soon.

No, it wasn't over. Not by a long shot.


	18. Chapter 18 Filler Chapter, So Sorry

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

Tremomaru: Sorry, I can't tell you that. It's classified.

eerrr: Gee, thanks! I love being reminded of my stupidity! But if you wish to offer criticism, please be a little more diplomatic next time, yes?

LTspade: Thanks for defending me on that one, guy/girl. It means a lot.

**April 10, Day 8, (Before Dawn)**

"Grandmaster? Grandmaster, awaken."

A large paw shook him gently awake. Shifu blinked a few times and sat up. "Ah-lam. Is something wrong?"

"I thought it would be best if we left before your family awakens," she said. "I doubt that you would enjoy seeing them again."

"Ah. Yes, I see," Shifu said. Together, they quickly woke up the students. Within minutes, they were out of the inn and hurrying through the streets, which were brushed a light gray and pink-streaked light that came from the not-yet risen sun.

"Just a little farther, and then we'll be at the town's gates," Shifu said. He paused for a moment, remembering the way, and started up again.

They had just rounded a corner when Shifu suddenly came to a halt.

Two red pandas stood in front of them. For a moment, Po thought it was Lord and Lady Jin again, but these red pandas were a great deal younger.

"Déshi," Shifu said, surprised.

"Older brother," said one of the other red pandas, the male. He seemed just as stunned as Shifu.

"I trust you've heard of the family quarrel?" Shifu said, already knowing the answer.

Déshi nodded. "Yes, mother and father told me."

"Then you understand why we must leave immediately."

"Brother- Grandmaster- couldn't you just apologize to them?" Déshi said. "After all, it's for the better."

"For the better?" Shifu said, his mouth tightening.

"Yes. For the better of the family."

There was an awkward silence, before Shifu said, "I see you've followed family tradition, then. Ruling the city… finding a wife…"

"Oh, yes," Déshi said, gesturing to the young woman beside him. **(A/N: Just so you know, Déshi is about forty-five to fifty, and his wife is somewhere around twenty-five to thirty. That kind of age difference wasn't uncommon back then).** "This is Lin Lin, my wife." **(A/N: 'Beauty of a Tinkling Bell')**.The female red panda bowed and remained silent. "She's been feeling sickly, so I'm taking her to a physician. He's the best, but he doesn't do house-calls."*

"I see." Another silence.

"Shifu, please, apologize to our parents," Déshi said finally.

"I cannot."

"You must!" the red panda insisted. "Would you have our family break apart because of your beliefs?"

"I have never agreed with our parents on matters of race and species," Shifu said. "You must have known this was coming."

"But-"

"I'd rather be the cause of a family feud than to conform to their opinions," interrupted Shifu.

"There is _nothing_ more important than family." Déshi said. "It's always been that way, and it always will be. Just do what they want."  
>"I don't care if all of China wants me to believe their values, I will not!" Shifu barked.<p>

There was a stunned silence between the two, before Shifu sighed. "I understand the implications behind this, Déshi, and I know that it's only a matter of time before I am disowned." Everyone drew back at this, surprised. "But my duty does not lie with our parents; it remains with China, my students, and my beliefs."

Another moment of quiet passed, before Déshi said sadly, "I'd hoped you would see reason, Shifu, but in this case…I must ask you to leave the city."

"We were about to in any case," Shifu said, just as disheartened. "I am sorry that we weren't able to come to an agreement."

"As am I, brother. As am I." He shook his head with a sigh. "May I escort you to the gates?"

"Yes, of course."

Everyone glanced at each other as they walked in silence to the city gates. Once there, Shifu said, "We'll be leaving now. I wish you well."

There was another awkward pause, before Déshi sighed again, and then said, "Shifu, may I have a moment with you?"

Shifu blinked, surprised. "You may." The two red pandas walked a ways away.

"Shifu," Déshi said. "I still think you're making a big mistake."

"How so?"

"By courting the mountain lioness," he replied. "Brother, you can't seriously mean-"

"Should the courting progress to that stage, I do intend to marry her," Shifu said seriously.

"But how can you do your duty to your race? To China? No child can come from this union, no heir to take over your legacy."

"My legacy passes on through my students, as Master Oogway's did to me." He glanced over at Po and the others. None but the panda were listening, but Po was obviously paying attention. "A good friend once told me that sometimes- not often, but sometimes- duty to self is more important than duty to others."

Déshi nodded sadly. "I suppose you must do as you see fit."

Shifu dipped his head. "Your support means a great deal to me. If you could thank our parents for their offer of hospitality, I would be very grateful."

"I will," Déshi promised. "Well, then…I suppose this is goodbye, brother."

"Yes, I suppose so." After one last awkward silence, the two brothers hugged. And, without another word, Shifu led the group out of the town.

"'A good friend?'" Po said jokingly, low enough so that none of the others could hear.

"Don't push it, panda."

** A/N: Yes, this was very short, stupid, pointless, and a waste of chapter space. It was basically a filler. My only excuse was that I felt that all of you deserved a chapter in a reasonable amount of time, no matter how crappy that chapter was. Mis disculpas.**

***"-doesn't do house calls." – Women generally weren't allowed out of their house in Ancient China.**


	19. Chapter 19 Kicks, Kisses, and Cooks

Chapter 19

Sword-Master-Caracal: Oh, wow! Thank you so much! It's seriously amazing when I find someone with as much dedication as you have.

To Everyone Else Who Has That Much Dedication: Thanks to all of you, as well! It means a lot to me that you care that much about this story.

R0xas Alpha03: Wow. That's really deep…

A/N: I got the Left and Right bit from : http: /www .acumedico . com/discus /messages/25/ ? 10873176 83 .

**April 10, Day 8, (Approx. 12:00 p.m.)**

"Tigress, Po, to the front."

Both masters glanced up, surprised. The group had stopped to take a quick break for lunch, and Shifu hadn't called for a spar yet.

"Yes, Master," Tigress said, quickly standing up. Po followed her lead. They quickly walked over to Shifu, who was standing on a slightly raised area of land that the wind had stripped of grass.

The red panda pointed in front of him. They both stood at attention as he walked around. Suddenly, without warning, he wacked both of them in the back with his staff- or, rather, he hit Tigress in the back. Po he hit in the butt.

"Ow!" the panda said. "Master Shifu, what was that for?"

"I was wondering the same thing," said Tigress, rubbing her back with a frown.

Shifu didn't answer. Instead, he gently flicked the staff at the side of Tigress' charcoal-black pants. The two talismans tumbled out onto the dirt.

"Oh," said Po sheepishly. "Uh- okay, yeah, we kind of deserved that one-"

"I told you to wear them. Why did you defy me?" Shifu said, his voice that kind of deadly quiet that told you that if you didn't answer him in the next five seconds, he was going to throw you off the edge of a cliff.

There was a moment's hesitance, before Tigress stepped forward. "It was my fault, Master," she said. "I told Po to remove them."

Shifu raised an eyebrow. "Continue."

"I could not train him if-"

"Could not?" he interrupted.

Tigress immediately bit her tongue. Number one rule of becoming a master: _never_ use the word 'can't.' **(A/N: My sensei makes me do ten pushups whenever I do).** "I did not believe it to be within my abilities at the time, Master."

"That's what I thought." He shook his head. "Tigress, do not disobey me again."

"Yes, Master," she vowed.

"Now, put them on," he instructed.

"What, that's it?" said, Po, surprised. "You're not going to punish us or anything?"

"I didn't say that."

The panda visibly gulped and put on the Yang talisman. Tigress did the same with the Yin.

_We're screwed,_ he said instantly.

_Oh, yes. We're very screwed._

"You will be showing me what you learned," Shifu said, taking a few steps back. With a flick of his staff, he created a wind that raced around in a circle, tracing an arena in the sand. "I will not be taking any mercy on you, short of severe injury."

"Whoa, wait!" Po protested. "We're sparring you? For, like, real?"

"Yes, exactly." Shifu said, smirking slightly.

"Aw, man, Master Shifu, you are _evil!_"

"Hm. I'll take that as a compliment. Ready stance!"

Both warriors warily put their hands up.

_I'm hungry._

_ Shut up and concentrate._

_ But I didn't even get to finish my lunch!_

"And…begin!" Shifu didn't waste a second. The instant he said 'begin,' he dove forward

_Oh shi-_

_ FOCUS!_

Shifu swung Oogway's staff, which Tigress blocked. In the next instant, she was swept off her feet. She flipped over backwards and landed on her feet.

_Tigress!_

_ I'm fine!_

_ No, help!_ Shifu had gone after Po, and the panda was getting beat around pretty bad. With a growl, she jumped back into the fight.

Shifu swung at her back paws, attempting to sweep her, and as she jumped he struck her in the diaphragm with a palm heel strike, sending her flying backwards.

_Tigress!_

_ Po, behind you!_

_ Gotcha!_ He whirled around and blocked the unexpected attack, and then aimed a kick at the smaller panda. Startled, Shifu barely managed to avoid it. On the next, he was not so lucky; Tigress managed to land a blow on his left shoulder, and he slid backwards, barely managing to stay on his feet.

Surprised, Po and Tigress looked at each other. In that instant, inspiration struck both at the same time: _We fight together._

_Tigress! Forward!_ Po shouted. The tiger master did as she was bidden, leaping forward after her master. **(A/N: You see this next bit from an aerial view).**

And that was when the real fight started. Po blocked the staff as Tigress attacked, and then reverse. Rapid-fire orders raced from mind to mind.

_Behind you! _

_ No- the other way! Watch out!_

The feline master aimed a spinning kick as the red panda jumped forward after Po.

_ Block- and strike!_

They battled together, fighting as if one entity.

_Po! Now!_ Tigress ordered, a vision of her plan jumping through her mind into his.

_Gotcha!_ He blocked the staff as it swung at him, and then grabbed the end.

Though the wood seemed frail, it was in truth very strong. He flipped the staff over and, through extension, Master Shifu. The red panda instinctively let go, landing on his feet in a cloud of dust.

When the dust settled, he found his own staff pointing directly at him from one end, and Tigress' claws on the other, each no more than two feet from him. He looked at each of them, an awed smiled alighting on his features.

Po and Tigress glanced at each other, and, for one stunned moment, no words were transferred through their connection.

Then, Shifu smirked. He flipped backwards, knocking the staff out of the way. Dodging Tigress' surprise-induced attack, he hit Po in a pressure point in his neck, making the right side of the panda's body slump as it went numb. Spring-boarding off Po's expansive back, he flipped over Tigress' head, struck her in the back, and hit the same pressure point he'd hit on the panda, only this time on the left. **(A/N: Yin= left, Yang= right).**

"Good work, I am very impressed," he said, tapping a few places on their arms and backs to get them back to normal. "That was absolutely astounding; had you held your form for just another moment, you would have had me." He turned to Tigress. "Your awareness, your focus- it's improved dramatically. You concentrated completely on the task at hand, without reservation. You set aside everything else… I would suppose that you've achieved Inner Peace?"

Tigress nodded, fighting to keep the smile off her face. "The Dragon Warrior is a very good instructor, Master."

"Yes, I can see. As for you, Po, your strength has increased by a tenfold, not to mention your flexibility and endurance. I am very proud of you. _Both_ of you."

Tigress felt that same sense of euphoria she experienced whenever her master told her that he was proud of her. It was still something of a shock, which was evidence of the years she'd spent wishing for his praise. Both Po and she put a fist into their open paws and bowed. "Master."

He bowed back, still smiling.

"Wow. Guys, that was…amazing," Mantis said, as they walked back and sat down.

"How did you _do _that?" Viper said, slithering up to her feline friend. "Was it the mind-connection?"

"Yeah. It was totally _awesome_!" Po said excitedly. Tigress couldn't help but chuckle at his antics.

"We leave in five minutes, students," Shifu said. This hurried everyone along to finish their rather dry meal of rye bread and water.

Soon enough, they were once again traveling over the grassy fields, the brilliant sun shining down.

**That Night (Approx. 7:00 p.m.)**

"Hey, Po, what's for dinner? Noodles?" said Viper, curling up in front of the fire.

"Yeah, but I'm not cooking tonight," said the panda.

Everybody looked up, surprised. "Then who's cooking?" asked Crane, already imagining the tragedy that was the loss of Po's noodles.

"Master Tigress is."

"What?" said everyone in unison.

"Panda, believe me when I say that this is not a good idea," said Master Shifu. "The last time Tigress tried to cook, well…"

"The barrack kitchen was never the same," Monkey said, shaking his head sadly.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"I don't know how you could forget an exploding rice pot, thirteen overturned water pails, and a fire that nearly destroyed the barracks anyway, but no, we aren't," said Mantis.

"Yeah, and that was from just one little pot of rice," Viper agreed.

"Aw, come on, guys, have a little faith!" Po said. "Look, if you're really that worried, I'll help her and make sure she doesn't blow up anything."

"Thank you for your support, Po," Tigress said dryly.

"Yeah, no problem," he said, grinning. "Come over here."

She stood up and followed him over to the fire. As they started to cook, Po gently reminding her with the mind-to-mind about this or that, the others all went back to talking.

"You think she can really do it?" Monkey asked. "I mean, look what happened with a little rice. Imagine what the soup will be like!"

Mantis snorted. "Hey, you can try it first."

"If Po's helping her, it can't be that bad," Viper pointed out.

"I can hear you, you know," Tigress called over.

"Uh- okay, new subject," said Crane. He lowered his voice so much that not even Tigress could hear. "Did any of you notice something about the two of them?"  
>"Like what?" said Mantis, as oblivious as always.<p>

"I don't know they just seemed… different."

"Isn't it obvious?" said Viper.

They all looked at her, not getting it. She sighed. _Men._

"They obviously had some sort of moment, or maybe a few. My guess is that she probably kissed him again, only this time he didn't just stand there."

"Wha-?"

"Maybe they even said that they love each other!" Viper said, smiling dreamily.

They all stared at her. "Dude, there is _no _way that happened," said Mantis.

She scowled. "Just because none of you have any idea of romance!" Then, under her breath, "Or two of you, anyway…"

Crane went slightly red. Mantis and Monkey glanced at each other, and after a moment came to the same realization.

"No _way_," Monkey said. "You two?"

"'You two' what?" said Viper.

"You know… You and Crane…" said Mantis.

"Crane and I what?" asked the snake, getting that look in her eyes that made anyone with half a brain gulp in fear. However, said primate and bug didn't have that much sense, and went for the more…comical…approach.

"Well, let's put it this way…" said Monkey.

"Viper and Crane, sitting in a tree," Mantis started.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" they both finished at the same time.

Both the bird and the snake flushed bright red. Viper hissed at Mantis, who backed away in fear (she could easily swallow him in one gulp, a fact that he somehow always seemed to forget).

"First comes love, then comes marriage-" continued Monkey, before Crane flapped his wings agitatedly, smacking the primate in the face. "Ow…" he moaned, rubbing his nose. "C'mon, man, really?"

"Yes, really! We're just friends. Whoever said there was anything between Viper and me?"

"It's kind of obvious," Mantis pointed out.

"Then you need your eyes checked," the bird snapped. "Until the day that either of us comes right out with it and says we're in a relationship with _anybody_, don't assume anything!"

Everyone looked at him, stunned. The avian master had never gotten angry at any of them before, or at least not like this.

Suddenly, Viper slithered up beside him. "Crane's right," she said defiantly. "We're not dating, and you shouldn't have been teasing us even if we were!"

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Mantis said, putting his…thingies…up into the air in a sign of surrender. "We're just kidding, jeez…"

"Okay, people, dinner is served!" Po said, thankfully saving the two animals from their imminent doom. He ladled soup into a few wooden bowls. "Secret Ingredient Soup, who wants some?"

"I would, Dragon Warrior," Master Ah-lam said, nodding her head as he handed her a bowl. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no prob… Hey, Mantis, here's a bowl."

"Uh- thanks, Po. But I want to see Tigress eat some, first," the bug said gingerly.

"Funny, Mantis," Tigress said, annoyed. "Positively hilarious."

"I try."

"Hey, Po, give me a bowl!" said Monkey. When Mantis looked at him doubtfully, he said, "What? If Po was watching her, it can't be that bad, right?"

"Does anybody trust my cooking skills?" wondered Tigress.

"No," said everyone but Ah-lam and Po.

After everyone had gotten their soup (some less willingly than others), Tigress cautiously picked up her spoon. Even if she wouldn't admit it, she was a little nervous about this, as well. She scooped up some soup and put it in her mouth.

Her eyes widened with surprise. It wasn't as good as Po's- this was slightly spicier, and didn't quite have enough broth- but it wasn't bad, either. She swallowed it and went for another scoop.

"She didn't die!" Mantis stage-whispered.

"Mantis! Be nice," Viper said. She tried some of her own. "Wow, Tigress, this is really good!"  
>"Eah, 'igress, ib's no ad!" said Monkey through a mouthful of soup. ("Yeah, Tigress, it's not bad!")<p>

Ah-lam quietly tried some of her own. A small smile was all that was needed.

Crane and Shifu took some, as well. "Well, I must say, I'm surprised," said Shifu, after swallowing.

Tigress rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Master." She glanced around at the others. "Well? Did I pass inspection?"

"Hold up!" said Mantis. "Okay, so none of you are dead, so does that mean I can eat it?"

"Yes, Mantis," hissed Viper, annoyed.

He tentatively took a small slurp of soup, and said nothing. After a moment of everyone glaring at him expectantly, he said, "OKAY! I admit it! Tigress can cook…when Po's helping her."

"Thank you," Tigress said, smirking victoriously.

Everyone finished the rest of their soup without complaint. After they were done, Shifu said, "Who'll clean the dishes?"

"I will," Po and Tigress volunteered at the same time. The glanced over at each other, blushing.

"I- uh-" Po started, but Shifu cut him off.

"You'll both do it, then. Thank you."

Po gathered the bowls up, while Tigress boiled some water. After the water had cooled, she took the bowls from Po and started to wash them off. _I wash, you dry._

_Cool,_ he said happily.

She glanced at him, a confused smirk adorning her lips. _Not the word I'd use to describe it._

_Yeah, well, my dad and I used to do this at home all the time. He'd wash and I'd dry…you know, stuff like that. It just reminds me of home is all._

_You must miss him,_ she said.

He nodded. _Yeah, sometimes. I go down to the shop a few times a week, but I still worry about him. Y'know, he's older and stuff, so…_

_Yes, I see._

_You know what's the worst?_ he continued. _There's these times where I'll be, I don't know, having a bad dream or something, and I'll wake up. I'll kind of look around, thinking I'll be in my room above the shop, and when I'm not, I freak out for a few seconds before I remember where I am. You know what I mean?_

_In a sense… _she answered slowly. _When I was younger, I used to have nightmares almost every night. When I woke up, I'd start crying because I'd be thinking I was still in the orphanage._

_Whoa. That's, like… really bad. What happened?_ said Po.

_Master would hear my crying and come running in to comfort me. It was the only parental affection he'd ever show_… She glanced over her shoulder at Master Shifu, who was talking to Master Ah-lam._ I owe you a thank you, really. If it wasn't for you, Shifu might never have come around._

_What? Naw, of course not. That wasn't me,_ he protested.

_Po. Do you really think that any of us would be who we are today without you? _said Tigress. _Before you came, it was like we were all walking on eggshells. I'd make someone angry, or they'd make me angry, and through it all Shifu was always watching us, dolling out punishment and training us like we would die tomorrow. _She smiled slightly. _But after you came and ruined it all, destroyed everything we'd every worked for… something changed. The tension, the anger, the bitterness all just… went away._

_Seriously?_ he said, surprised. _I didn't try to or anything, I was just- I don't know, being myself._

_Exactly. We'd all built up walls, hiding from each other. You stumbled in and knocked them all down._ She tilted her head and smirked, her red eyes glowing slightly in the near-darkness. _And you don't know how grateful I am for that._

_Oh- uh- heh,_ he said, grinning nervously. _You're welcome, I guess._ As he stared at her, he suddenly thought, _Wow. She's really, really beautiful._

_ Thank you,_ she answered instantly. He went a brilliant shade of red, and then (if it was even possible) another few hues darker as a thought entered his head.

_Hey, uh, Tigress?_

_ Yes?_

_ Can I, um… you know…_

Her eyes went wide as she realized what he wanted to do, and didn't answer.

Po gulped at the sudden silence, and then, before he could scare himself out of it, leaned forward and kissed her slowly and gently on the lips.

Even though she'd known it was coming, she was still surprised. It was the first time Po had ever made the first move, and some part of her was still in shock.

THWACK! Po jerked back and yelped in pain. He looked over to find Master Shifu frowning disapprovingly.

"Ow! What was that for? I thought you were okay with us dating," moaned Po, rubbing his head.

"Hmph. She's still my daughter; call it instinct," said Shifu.

"Yes, Master Shifu…ow, that's going to leave a mark," Po muttered, gingerly pressing the growing lump on his head.

"Oh, let them alone, Grandmaster," said Master Ah-lam, coming up behind him. He glanced up, surprised. "They're young, impassioned, in love… So long as they keep it to this level, I don't think that you have much to worry about."

"Oh…well, I suppose so," Shifu said, flustered.

Po grinned mischievously. Shifu caught the smile and said, "Panda, if you make so much as one comment, I swear to every god in the heavens above-"

"Aw, c'mon, Master Shifu, we all know you guys are dating," Po pointed out. "Go on, have some fun. We'll hold up the fort here."

Shifu blinked, surprised, and then smiled. "I- I believe we shall. Thank you, Dragon Warrior."

"Yeah, no problem."

The night sky sparkled with stars above the three couples: Po and Tigress, talking through the mind-speak and occasionally laughing; Shifu and Ah-lam taking a small walk; and the two 'just friends,' Viper and Crane, quietly enjoying each other's company beside the fire.

After watching this for a few minutes, Mantis glanced over at Monkey. "Dude, we've got to get ourselves some girlfriends."


	20. Chapter 20In which the time is shortened

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

KristenTheKittyKat: I know, I know! I'm aware that this is getting dragged out too much. The problem is, I gave a time allotment of _twelve _days at the beginning of the story, and I'm only at _eight_ here. I finally found a way to fix that in this chapter, so no worries!

**April 11, Day 9, (Approx. 4:00 a.m.)**

"Everybody up! Everybody up, immediately!"

Everyone but Master Shifu (for of course, it had been him calling for the awakening) mumbled incoherently and simply rolled over.

Shifu glared at them, his eye twitching. "Up, I said!"  
>Ah-lam roused herself and sat up. "Grandmaster? Is something wrong?"<p>

"Yes, something is _very_ wrong! Which is why I need- you- all- to- get- up!" With each word, he wacked one of his students gently in the chest with the staff.

"Aw, c'mon, Master Shifu, it's not even sunrise," Po moaned. "Let us go back to sleep, _please_?"

"There is no time!" Shifu said agitatedly. "I have just received a message from the Southern Valley Court of Heavenly Wisdom."

Once he said this, everyone was immediately awake. "What?" Tigress said urgently, springing up into a stand so fast that it made Po dizzy. "What does it say?"

"The trial has been moved to two days earlier," Shifu said, pacing. "We have to leave. Now."

"Whoa, wait!" Po said. "That's so not fair!"  
>Shifu's eyes flashed. "After everything you've seen, did you really think that fairness has anything to do with it?"<br>Startled by his master's cold tone, Po took a few steps back, hurt.

"We have no time, no resources, no chance of getting there on time!" Shifu continued angrily. "The task is nearly impossible, and in case you haven't noticed, _panda_, we're all out of options-"

"Master, calm down!" Tigress snarled. "Don't get angry at Po for this; you're acting like a child!"

Shifu whirled around. "And don't get me started with you, Tigress! It's because of you that we're in this situation!"

Tigress' eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed. "Fine!" she hissed. "I didn't ask you to come, did I?" Part of her wanted to start crying, but the other half was so furious that she couldn't even remember how. "I'm not incompetent, Master, I understand that it's my fault!"

"Don't you take that tone with-"

"Hey, wait a minute, don't start on her for this!" Po sad defensively.

"Po's right, Master, lay off!" said Monkey. Mantis nodded.

"And it's not her fault," Viper chimed in. "None of this is."

"I agree with Viper," said Crane quietly. "It nobody's fault but Xun Wei's; perhaps if we start now, we might be able to make it."

"Crane's correct," said Ah-lam. "Standing around arguing won't get us to Bao Gu any faster."

Shifu stared around at them all. After a moment, he slumped against his master's staff. "You're right," he said quietly. "My apologies, to all of you. And especially to you, Tigress." The tiger master blinked, surprised. "I'm just stressed. I do not wish to see you get hurt, and I- I am very worried for your and Po's lives. I don't want to lose either of you." His face was weary, the look someone who had seen too much in his time and was troubled by the knowledge that he would see more yet.

Tigress' face softened as she realized that he wasn't angry with her, but rather with the fear that he might lose the two of them forever. "I understand. It's forgiven, Master… father."

"Thank you." He closed his eyes for a moment, and then said, "Master Ah-lam is correct; if we start now and go as long and fast as we can, perhaps we can make it there on time."

"Yes, Master," they all said in unison. Tigress quickly rolled up her bedroll and knotted the ties on her bag, and then helped Po with his.

Ah-lam did the same for hers quickly, and then stood watching. After a moment, she said, "You were rather harsh with them, Grandmaster."

Shifu sighed. "I know. It's just… I'm afraid to lose either of them, ever again, and my worry didn't come out the way I wished it had."

"Again?" the mountain cat questioned.

"Yes, again." He leaned wearily on his staff. "While in Gongmen City, Po was blasted by one of Lord Shen's cannons. I was on the other side of China at the time, but I was meditating. I received a vision during that time of what had happened…" He shivered unconsciously, remembering how the entire world had seemed to go darker at that moment.

"And Master Tigress?" said Ah-lam.

"During the time when we were in the Shán Cún jail, Master Sung wounded Tigress very badly. She and Po were in a different cell than my students and I, and after hurting her he came to tell us of her death, which he believed he had caused. It was only thanks to Po that she survived at all, but during the time when I thought she was dead… it was like I was living in Hell." As he finished the sentence, he closed his eyes with a wince, remembering the horrible feeling of loss when Sung had told him his only daughter was dead.

"It must have been terrible," Ah-lam said quietly.

"Beyond imagining," he agreed. "Which is why I have been so… demanding, as of late. I _can _not and _will _not lose them again, even if I have to take down every master in that Court."

"Master, we are ready," said Tigress, standing at attention and catching his. The others followed her lead.

Shifu nodded. "Let's go."

**Sunrise** **(Approx.: 6:30 a.m.)**

The scarlet red sun rose over the dirt road, blending sky and land into one fiery mass of horizon.

_Tigress?_

No answer.

_Tigress? Hellooo?_

The feline master suddenly noticed that Po was trying to talk to her. _Hm? What?_

_You've been really quiet for a while now, and I keep getting these random little confusing memory flashes. Is something up?_

Tigress blinked. _No. Just thinking._

_ 'Bout what?_

_ Are you always this nosy?_

_Oh, uh, privacy. Gotcha. Sorry,_ he said. But she could still feel the curiosity emanating from him.

She sighed. _Trust me, Po, it's really not that big of a deal._

_ I know. I'm just… bored, I guess._

_Well, find some other way to entertain yourself._

_ Uh…okay. I'll do that._ He looked around. There was a blessed quiet for a moment, before he started singing something about noodles in his mind. _One noodle, two noodle, three noodle, four. Five noodle, six noodle, come and get some more-_

_ SHUT UP!_

_ Sorry, it's stuck in my head!  
>How do you get something like that stuck in your head?<em>

_ I don't know. Same way that you got 'All the Little Tigers' stuck in your head last night?_

She growled. _Fine! If I tell you what I was thinking about, will you STOP?_

_ Yeah! I'll stop! I promise!_

She rolled her eyes. _You're like a little kid wanting candy. Or a big kid, I suppose._

_ Ouch._

She was quiet for a moment, before she said, _Don't laugh._

_ I won't!_

She hesitated just one more instant, before she said, _When I was younger… I was probably the biggest fan ever of Master Ah-lam._

Po gaped at her. _Seriously? Like, the hard-core Master Tigress, a fangirl?_

_ You said you weren't going to laugh,_ she reminded him.

_I'm not! But that's just kind of crazy… Not that she's not amazing and everything, but why her?_

_ She was my hero,_ Tigress said simply. _Was and is, actually. She was the first female to master Kung Fu, perhaps one of the fiercest warriors to ever live. When I was five or six, she would have been about thirty-five, a Master for maybe ten years._

_ Wait a minute,_ he said, holding up a paew._ You're saying that you idolized her-_

_ -Just like you did me,_ Tigress finished. _Yes, exactly. It's… amazing, to actually be here and talk to her. Some of the things she's seen and done…_

_ How come you didn't recognize her when we first saw her on the boat?_ Po asked.

_My mind was so occupied by the trial that it simply didn't register at first. Also, most of the paintings I've seen of her showed a thirty-year-old master, whereas she's around fifty or sixty._

_ That's true…_ He thought for a few moments, trying not to grin. _Aw, this is __priceless._

_ Says the man who has action figures of us,_ Tigress reminded him.

_Yeah, but everyone expects that from me. I'm the big squishy panda bear, remember?_ He said, poking himself in the stomach. _But you're the die-hard Kung Fu master! I mean, you're supposed to be, I don't know, an entity onto yourself. Like, defy the gods and all that?_

Tigress snorted. _After everything you've seen, do you still think it's as glamorous as that?_

_ Huh. Guess not,_ he admitted. _This whole Kung Fu thing is a lot harder than it looks. I mean, I knew you guys were tough and all, but now I know _how _tough!_

Tigress smirked to herself. _Not so tough. I believe that if Master Ah-lam were the same age as me, we'd be evenly matched._

Po nodded. After a few minutes, he said teasingly, _Fangirl._

_ Shut up._

**Lunch**

Shifu was only allowing five minutes to eat, which any other day would have not been enough time for Po.

But today was different. Po had one goal, and one goal only in his mind. And it had nothing to do with dried bean buns.

He walked over to Master Shifu as everyone else started to eat. "Uh, Master Shifu? Can I talk to you?"

Shifu glanced up. "Of course, Po. What about?"

The panda shuffled slightly. "Uh…I kind of meant, you know, alone."

Shifu blinked. "I- I suppose so."

"Okay. Follow me," said Po walking away.

Shifu watched him for a few moments, wondering if this was a good idea, before he decided that if the panda went nutso he could probably take him.

After a minute of walking, Shifu said, "Po, if this is another one of your treasure hunts, I swear-"

"It's not, Master Shifu, I promise," said Po, stopping and looking around. "Look, I've got something to ask you."

Shifu stood there quietly after a moment, he said, "You can say it now, Po."

"Oh. Oh, yeah." He swallowed. "Okay, here it goes: ."

Shifu looked at him, his eye twitching in confusion. "What?"

Po took a deep breath. "I want to propose to Tigress but I thought I should ask you first."

There was a moment of silence while the two pandas just stared at each other.

"I get that we're already engaged, because of the whole Yin-Yang thing," Po continued, "But I want to do it right. Tigress should have a say in this, too. I know it's not exactly traditional and all to ask the girl,* but I really respect her and stuff. I just want your permission first."

Shifu simply stood there for a few seconds with his mouth open.

"Er… Master Shifu?"

The red panda suddenly snapped out of his stunned stupor. "Po, I… I absolutely give you my permission."

Po's eyes widened in shock. "Whoa, really?"

"Yes. If Tigress is happy with you, then you have my blessing."

"Thanks, Master Shifu! Or… I dunno… da-"

"Not until the wedding, Po." Shifu grimaced. "I don't want to even hear the word 'father' come out of your mouth until that time."

"Yes, Master," said Po. "Wow, I can't believe you actually said yes…"

"Hm. Don't push your luck. How and when do you intend to propose?"

"Tonight." Po grinned. "You think she'll say yes?"

Shifu snorted. "Knowing my daughter, she'll either punch you in the stomach or kiss you."

"Or both," Po pointed out.

The red panda chuckled. "Yes. Or both."

*** "…to ask the girl…" In ancient China and most older cultures, marriages were arranged between the suitor and the girl's father.**

**A/N: Next chapter is going to be very action-based. For all you CranexViper fans, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

** Yeah, this chapter was mainly here as a time shortener. Sorry for wasting your time!**


	21. Chapter 21 Lava and Almost Proposals

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. But you already knew that, didn't you?

A/N: Hehehe. There's this one part in KFP 2 where both Po and Shen are laughing like maniacs, and you can see Tigress in the background. She's glancing between them with this look on her face like _what the heck?_ It's HILARIOUS!

**Just After Sunset (Approx. 7:00 p.m.)**

Everyone stared. And stared. And…stared.

After a few more moments, Tigress managed to say, "Master, you've got to be joking."

Everyone glanced over, surprised. Tigress was never the one to say stuff like that.

Then again, she'd never been told to walk across not one but two rickety old bridge with a few missing pieces over a chasm filled with _lava._

Sure, the bridge was high up. Sure, the lava was so far down you could only just lightly feel the heat. Sure, the ropes were sturdy. But lava was still lava.

"No, Tigress, I'm not joking. This is the fastest way across."

"What about last time?" said Monkey. "We didn't have to get to Bao Gu like this before!"

"We had more time then, and right now, said time is of the essence. Now, all across."

"Whoa, hold on their, Master," said Po. "You seriously think it's going to hold all of us?"

"Yes."

"Oh, come on! If went on that thing with _Mantis_ on my shoulder, it'll snap!" Po argued.

"It's stronger than it looks," Shifu assured him. "Wasting time here will not get us to Bao Gu any faster."

Po inched forward and lightly tapped the bridge with his toe. It wobbled slightly, and he gulped.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, panda, it's not going to break!" Shifu said, annoyed. "Go!"

The panda grimaced and gingerly stepped onto the bridge. Amazingly, it did not break, and he took a few more cautious steps.

"Tigress, you ne-"  
>"THERE!"<p>

Everyone whirled around. Po teetered on the bridge. "Whoa-hoa-hoa!"

A huge group of wolves, rhinos, and boars were standing on the edge of the cliff a ways away. The attackers ranged anywhere from forty sixty in number.

"GET THEM!" the lead man, a rhino, roared.

"Go! Go!" Shifu yelled.

Po started to make his way across the bridge, trying not to fall. Mantis followed, and then Crane, Viper, and Monkey.

"Ah-lam, Tigress, go!" the red panda urged.

"No!" Tigress snarled. "Master, I'm staying here!"

"As am I," said Ah-lam, putting her paws up into ready stance, her cerulean eyes narrowing. "We're not leaving."

Shifu did not look at them fully, but out of the corner of his eye he could see the determination on both women's faces.

And then, the masses were upon them.

"KYAH!" Tigress shouted, kicking one opponent and thrusting him back into another.

"HEIS!" Ah-lam jumped high into the air, landing down hard on a cluster of men. "KO!"

There were too many, too many. No matter how many they took down, more advanced to take their places. They soon were past the three masters and jumping onto the bridge, fighting the others on the shaking slats of wood and twisted rope. Viper wrapped herself around one, choking him, before letting go as he tumbled off the bridge into the lava below.

Po only just turned in time to face his opponent, a rhino. He blocked every strike, barely managing to balance on the teetering bridge. As the rhino tried to hit him again, he tried to dodge out of the way. Both he and the rhino fell.

Crane swooped in and caught the yelling panda mid-air, depositing him back on the bridge. In the next instant, he flew after Mantis, who had also been thrown off.

Monkey swung underneath the bridge, going from slat to slat in the way he was naturally made to do. At the end of the bridge (the side where Shifu, Tigress, and Ah-lam were still fighting), he swung himself up and knocked out a boar that was about to run Tigress through the back with a knife.

Ah-lam flipped over one of her opponents, hitting a number of pressure points as she did so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a wolf about to club down Shifu. In the next instant, she knocked out her adversary and, whirling around, removed her cloak and threw it over the wolf's head, before kicking him off the cliff.

Her silvery-blue vest was barely a blur as she roundhouse-kicked a boar. As she did so, she realized the only way that any of them were going to get out of this alive. "Shifu!" she shouted. "Master Oogway's Attack of Finality!"

"Ready!" he shouted back, without even the slightest hint of hesitation, even though he knew what the attack would cost him. "Tigress, take the others and get them out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you, Master!" she shouted.

"TIGRESS, DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! DO YOUR DUTY AND RUN!" he roared at her.

There was something about his tone that made her listen. "Yes, Master!" she said, and knocked out her opponent. Flipping over more attackers, she raced along the bridge, grabbing Viper and Mantis as she went. Crane got the message and swooped down, catching the two warriors in his talons. Monkey followed along the underside of the bridge.

They'd all gotten to the other side of the bridge when Tigress realized who was missing. "Where's Po?" she demanded.

Everyone glanced around. Tigress swore in mandarin and immediately ran back to the bridge.

The panda was fighting another adversary, this time a wolf. Tigress leaped forward and slashed at the wolf, knocking him off the bridge. "Po, come on!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Shifu and Ah-lam are going to use Oogway's Attack of Finality!"

Po's eyes went wide in recognition. "Whoa, seriously?"  
>"Yes, and if we're not careful, we're going to be-" Suddenly, a motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She glanced over and saw Master Shifu reaching inside his robes while Ah-lam picked him up. She cursed again. "Po, HOLD ON!"<br>"What are you-"

She jumped over him, running for the end of the bridge, towards the two masters.

Ah-lam threw Shifu into the air. At the same instant, the red panda pulled out about twenty silver knives, all tipped with poison. As he reached the peak of his arch, Ah-lam threw herself into the air, hitting him with a spinning kick with just the tip of her back paw. This put a spin on the panda master, causing the knives to fly out in a circle. However, the place she'd tapped him (it was necessary, to create the spin) was the pressure point right in his chest, making him go limp.

Tigress leapt forward the last few inches as the knives flew out. She cut the ropes with her claws, praying to every god she knew that Po was hanging on.

The bridge swung down in an arch, just as some of the knives hissed over her head. As she swung forward at breakneck speeds, she knew without a doubt that had she been a another second too late, the knives would have impaled her and everyone else on that bridge.

All the people who weren't hanging on to the bridge (aka, everyone but her and Po) fell into the lava below. Tigress held on for dear life as she slammed into the other side's cliff-face.

"Climb, Po!" she shouted, grabbing ahold of a rope with one hand and a wooden slat with the other.

"Gotcha!" he yelled down.

As quickly as possible, they climbed up the bridge and onto the top of the cliff. Tigress didn't take an instant to rest; glancing around, she noticed one key factor that she hadn't seen before:

The land on their side of the cliff was flat and straight. On the other side, surrounding the two unconscious masters (Shifu had knocked Ah-lam out when he'd fallen) were a number of warriors that hadn't been knocked out or killed. And a lot of them had arrows. No doubt the archers were experts, and they had a clean shot.

She and the others were dead meat.

"Oh no…" Viper said in a small voice, as one of the archers gave the order to notch an arrow.

"We need a distraction," Tigress said. "Something to stop them from shooting."

"Okay, what?" Mantis asked.

She glanced around. Nothing came to her. "I- I don't know. There's got to be something-"

"Me," Crane said suddenly.

Everyone looked over at him, surprised. "No," Tigress said immediately. "No, Crane, we won't let you do that."

"I'm the only one who can fly," he argued. "It's simple. I'll go over there and distract them while the rest of you get away."

"Crane, you can't!" Viper insisted. "That's suicide!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. There isn't another option." The avian master had a fierce, determined look in his eyes. "I'm doing it whether you want me to or not." He looked directly at Tigress, and she suddenly realized exactly what it meant to be the leader.

She hesitated a moment, and then, with a sharp nod, said "Go."

Crane nodded and was about to fly off, before he suddenly turned back. He wrapped his wings around Viper. "I'll come back," he promised her.

Slightly surprised and her eyes sparkling with tears, Viper nodded. "Be safe," she whispered.

The bird let go of her, and then took to the skies, flying directly at the enemy. A second passed while he seemed to glide gracefully through the air, before he swooped down through the men, causing chaos throughout the group.

"Go!" Tigress ordered the others. "Keep running and don't stop until I say so."

"But Crane-"

"Now!" she said. "He made his choice, the choice to give us time. Don't dishonor it."

This was instantly agreed on, and everybody started running as fast as they could along the grassy plains, trying their hardest not to hear the sharp cries that echoed from the other side of the chasm.

**Later, at the edge of a forest.**

Viper sat crying quietly, curled up at the base of a tree. She just knew that he hadn't made it, she was so scared, maybe he was never coming back, maybe he was-

Tigress watched from a ways away, Po at her side. "You think she'll be all right?" the panda asked quietly.

Tigress sighed. "I don't know. If Crane doesn't make it back, she'll probably got to pieces."

"Isn't that what she's doing right now?"

"No. This is her quiet bit. When she loses it completely… she's probably more dangerous than me at those times."

Po nodded. He was freaking out, too. He and the other guys were all pretty much buds, but Crane was special to the panda. He couldn't help but remember how, when he'd first been chosen as the Dragon Warrior, Crane had been the only one to show even the smallest amount of kindness. The bird had managed to be polite, even though the situation had been obviously very awkward for everyone, and had done everything in his power to be a good host to Po and spare the panda's feelings.

Tigress' paws were clenching and unclenching themselves, over and over. She was rigid, nervous, straight as a board. Every bit of her was tense, waiting, wishing, _praying_ that somehow her comrade had made it out alive.

Mantis and Monkey were sitting not too far away, talking in quiet yet urgent tones, as if trying to reassure each other that their friend was okay.

Suddenly, Tigress leapt over to Viper, landing in front of her. The snake looked up. "T-Tigress," she said, her voice shaking.

The tiger master nodded. "How're you doing?"

The snake sniffed and didn't answer the question. "Do you think he's- he's-"

"I don't know."

There was another long silence, before Tigress said quietly, "You really like him, don't you?"

Viper sniffed bitterly. "Why would you care?"

Tigress blinked, and then suddenly, reached into her vest and pulled out a piece of paper, yellowed with age **(A/N: how does she fit so much in there? Oh, right, I make her!)**. She unfolded it and showed it to the snake.

"There," she said, her voice harsher than she meant it to be. "That's why I care, Viper."

Viper stared at it for a moment, confused, before she remembered…

_ "What's your drawing of?" Viper asked, glancing over at her friend's paper. Shifu had given the two young girls the day off (after all, they were only seven), and they were sitting in Tigress' room, using some leftover ink to draw._

_ "The Dragon Scroll. Master Shifu says that one of us is going to get it someday, but I think he means me." Tigress smiled proudly._

_ "Sure it'll be you! You're a waaaay better fighter than me!" Viper encouraged, though she was slightly jealous._

_ "Yeah, but I've been training longer, and you're still better at me with the flame thingy," Tigress pointed out. "What's your picture?"_

_ "It's us," Viper said, flicking the ink slightly as she held the paintbrush in her tail. "See? Look." She pointed with her head, and Tigress glanced at it. A rather poorly drawn tiger and snake were smiling. The sun in the upper right corner was smiling, too. It wasn't that great of a drawing, but to the two young girls it was a masterpiece._

_ "It's for you!" Viper said proudly. At the bottom were the messy characters_ 姐 煤 _(jié méi), or 'Sisters.'_

_ Tigress giggled and picked it up. "And this is yours!" she said, giving Viper the paper with the Dragon Scroll picture. "So that even if I do get it someday, you'll have one, too!" She grinned. "And it doesn't matter who gets it anyways, 'cause we're sisters!"_

_ Viper nodded. "Sisters, forever and ever!" she swore._

"Sisters, Viper," Tigress said quietly. "You remember that?"

The snake stared at her, looking close to tears once again. "You kept that? All this time?" she whispered.

"Forever," Tigress said simply. "Forever, because that's how long I'll care for my sister. And if you want Crane, then I'll be the first to encourage you."

Viper gave her a watery half-smile. "Thank you." Then, her smile faded. "And it's the same for you, Tigress. Po's yours, and no one else's." She looked them each dead in the eye. "You don't know how lucky you are, to have the one you love safe and sound beside you. Just… just do me a favor."

"Anything," the promised at the same time.

"Watch out for each other. Remember how lucky you are, and never, ever let each other go."

They each nodded their consent. Viper coiled in on herself again, laying her head down on her body and staring worriedly off into the distance. Tigress knew that they weren't going to get anything else out of her tonight. "Come on, Po, let's go," she said quietly.

They walked a ways away. After a few moments, Po took a deep breath. "Tigress, I need to talk to you."

She glanced at him. "What about?"

It was like a repeat of earlier that morning with Shifu. "Uh… could we go someplace, I don't know, more… private?"

She frowned slightly, confused. "Why?"

_Crap._ "Uh, because of Monkey and Mantis, you know. I mean, they're right over there, and they crack up every time we talk about _anything_, so…"

"Somehow, I don't think they're paying attention," she said dryly.

"Come on, Tigress, _pleeease?_"

She finally gave in. "Fine. Where do you want to go?"

"Uh…" he looked around. "Over here." He led her a ways into the trees, far away enough so that none of their friends could see them. _Look, I've got something I need to ask you,_ he said nervously.

Her frown deepened. _Po, are you all right? You're acting… different._

He bit his lip. _Tigress, look… I like you. I mean, __really__ like you._

She smiled confusedly. _I… like you, too. Po, what is this all about?_

He sighed. _Tigress, I have something I have to tell you- no, something I need to ask you, before it's too late and stuff, y'know?_

_ No, Po, I really don't know. What's going on?_

_ Okay, I'm just going to come out with it._ He took a deep breath. _Tigress, will you-_

"Po! Tigress!" Monkey yelled, running through the trees with Mantis on his shoulder. "Come quick!"

"Monkey? Mantis? What is it?" Tigress asked.

"Someone's coming," Mantis said.

"Is it Crane?" she asked instantly.

"We don't know. Whoever it is, they're coming by land, so it could be an enemy."

"Let's go," she said, her voice suddenly back to its normal hard core. She walked past him.

He watched her go, shoulders slumping dejection. She glanced back at him.

"Po? Something wrong?"

"Uh, no! 'Course not!" he said, trying to look nonchalant. "Why would something be wrong?"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on." She turned back around and walked away.

He stared at her for a moment, thinking wistfully of what would have happened if they'd had just a few more seconds. With a sigh, he pushed it to the back of his mind, and followed the tiger master back to the clearing.

**A/N: Okay, so not so strong as an ending I'd hoped for there. **

** Poor Po, he didn't get to propose. : ( So sad. Sorry if you all hate me for doing that to you! (Don't worry, though, he will get his chance… eventually! ***** evil laugh *). **


	22. Chapter 22 Bao Gu And then some XD

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own KFP.

A/N: There's going to be some very funny content ahead that I would not recommend reading if you are under the age of, say, eight or nine (no, it's not citrusy stuff, people, so stop panting!).

**At the Edge of a Forest (approx. 10:30 p.m.)**

Everyone watched the figure draw closer and closer, its form still indistinguishable. It walked with a strange gait, as if one leg was shorter than the other. Tigress' eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out who or what it was by the scent, but the figure was downwind from her (meaning that the wind was blowing past her to it) and she couldn't catch a scent.

"What do you think it is?" Monkey asked. Everyone else shushed him.

The figure was almost close enough to tell by then, but still just a bit too far away. Tigress snarled slightly and took a few steps forward. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Name yourself!"

The figure didn't answer, but with a few more staggering steps, he came close enough to tell exactly who it was.

It was Crane. He was beat up horribly; one leg was broken (thus his limp), he had a black eye, any number of bruises, and more cuts than Tigress could count. Dried blood clung to his feathers, staining the white a rusty red.

"Crane!" Viper said, slithering forward to him. "Thank the gods you're alive! I- I was so worried." She sounded like she was about to cry. "I th-thought you were going to d-d-die…"

Crane offered her a weak smile. "So did I." He winced slightly, taking another step. Tigress noticed randomly that his rain hat was gone, making him look even more bedraggled.

"What- what happened to you?" she said, not certain that she really wanted to know the answer.

Crane cringed again and didn't answer. "Do you have any-ngh!- any bandages with you?"

"Yeah, I've got some," Po volunteered. "Come over here, man, I'll fix you up."

"So will I," Viper volunteered. They helped the bird sit down, and Po pulled out a few rolls of bandages. Master Shifu had replaced them after they had come home from Devil's Pass.

_Master Shifu… _Po felt his stomach clench painfully at the thought of his master, and his unknown condition of existence. Even though Crane was back, he was still freaking out, hoping Shifu and Ah-lam were alive. And if they were dead… well, he wasn't going to think about that yet.

"So what happened? How'd you get away?" Po said, as Viper gently mouthed the bird's wings and legs, numbing the pain with trace amounts of poison.

"I didn't," Crane said. "The archers- they had more talent than I've ever seen. Their shots were almost dead-on. I tried to avoid the arrows, but there were just too may. Ten or twenty I can do, but fifty?" He shook his head. "Eventually, one pinned me down. They took me to Bao Gu- it's not far from here, just a few miles to the southwest- and brought me to Xun Wei. He's at the orphanage already, and those kids are working like slaves."

Tigress' eyes narrowed, and she suppressed a snarl. "He's controlling them?"

Crane nodded, wincing as his headache intensified with the movement. "He interrogated me, kept asking for someone named Lien. I told him I didn't know anyone named Lien, but I don't think he believed me." He raised a broken wing ruefully as proof, and everyone winced as they saw that the bone hadn't been snapped once, but twice.

"Lien? You're sure he said Lien?" Tigress demanded.

Crane looked at her, surprised. "Yes. Lien-hua, actually. You know her?"

"I _am_ her. Lien-hua's my given name." She shook her head. "But no one ever called me that, even at the orphanage. How did he find out?"

Crane tried to shrug, but Viper's venom had done it's work very well. He couldn't move at all. "I don't know. After he was done with interrogation, he had me locked in one of the below-ground rooms." He closed his eyes with a grimace, and Viper hissed with anger. Crane _hated_ enclosed spaces; most birds did. "Problem was, they left me with a pretty stupid guard. All I had to do was yell for help, and he came right in to shut me up."

"What'd you do?" Po said.

"Just some pressure-point techniques and a knockout technique. He should be waking up in a few hours with a nasty headache. I stole the keys, locked him in, and got out of there. I knew you guys had to be somewhere around because you were all running in this direction, so I started to wander around. I had to walk the whole way, though, since my arm was broken in two different spots, while my leg was only broken in one." He dipped his beak towards the aforementioned leg, which was bent at a strange angle.

"Let me see that," Tigress said. She took one of the bandages from Po and splinted the bone with two sticks.

"We have to get those kids out of there," Crane said angrily. "Forget the fight, Tigress and Po; I'll teach that evil bunny a lesson myself."

"No, you won't," Viper said sternly. "Not like this, anyway; you're going to take a week or two to heal."

"Why did they want me?" Tigress asked, returning to the topic at hand.

"I think they wanted to kill you before the trial," said Crane. "That way, Po would be the only one left for Xun Wei to deal with."

"No problem," said Mantis. "Po could totally take some wacko bunny in a fight."

"No," Tigress said. "Xun Wei is a better fighter than any of us; our best hope is to use the connection to bring him down."

"Better fighter than _you_?" said Monkey.

"Yes. Master Shifu could beat him, but Shifu…" Tigress grimaced. "Crane, do you know what happened to Master Shifu and Ah-lam?"

Crane shook his head. "Tigress… I didn't see them, and Xun Wei doesn't seem like the one to keep extra POWs when one could do the job. I don't think- Tigress, I'm so sorry, but… I don't think they made it."

The news hit everyone like a hurricane, shocking them into silence. _Shifu… gone?_ Thought Po numbly.

"No…" Tigress said weakly, stumbling back. "No."

"Tigress-" Viper started.

"NO!" Tigress roared. "I can't lose my parents again! Baba- Niang- they can't be dead! You understand me? _They can't be dead!_"

"Tigress, calm down-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, PO!" Tears streamed down her face as she screamed at him. "I WON'T BE AN ORPHAN AGAIN! I WON'T!"

Everyone stared at her as she crumpled to the ground, sobbing with her face in her knees. For all but Po, it was the first time that they'd ever seen Tigress truly cry. They were all crying by now, too, but Tigress was not supposed to. Tigress was supposed to be strong, their rock, their strength when they had none.

The panda walked over to her, gently kneeling down beside her. He pulled her into a hug.

"I won't," she said again through her tears. "I won't be alone again, Po. I- I can't."

"I know," he said. " I know. Tigress, we're all here. You're not alone, and you never will be." She looked up at him, tears still in her scarlet eyes. "And Crane didn't say he knew for certain that they were dead, right?" So let's not give up hope until we know for sure."

Tigress nodded into his chest. "You- you're right. This isn't- I need to focus." She shakily stood up, and Po backed away.

Everyone was till staring at her; Crane's mouth was hanging open in the same way it had been when Tigress had hugged Po in Gongmen Jail. They were so stunned, they weren't crying even the slightest bit.

"Po's right," she said, willing her voice to be still. "We can't give up hope, not until we have proof." She closed her paw into a tight fist. "We need to get into Bao Gu, find Xun Wei, and end this before it even starts."

"We have until ten tomorrow, since you're supposed to fight Xun Wei at noon," Monkey pointed out. "But we can't get in there without getting sliced and diced.

Tigress' eyes narrowed. "Maybe we can," she said, thinking. Her head snapped up. "Crane, is the town's perimeter under watch, or just the orphanage gates?"

"Just the orphanage, I think. Why?"

She smirked, as though both laughing and ruing her fate. "Because I've got a plan."

**Next Day: April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 9:30 a.m.)**

"Can I just say for the record that this is the _worst_ plan in the history of plans?" Po called out from behind a close-growing clump of trees.

"Says the panda who tried to cook rice in his stomach," Tigress retorted, and then hissed. "Viper! Not so tight; I still need to breath."

"Sorry, but we've got to get rid of your chest…" Viper said apologetically.

"Chest? What chest? I'm flat as a board!" the tiger said through her teeth.

"There!" Viper said, sounding pleased. "Now just tie it once more."

Tigress reached behind her back and knotted the piece of linen for the third time. "Are you done yet?" she said sarcastically.

"Yes, now put this on." She handed Tigress a vest, which the tiger master put on wearily. "Po, are you done yet?" she called over.

"Yeah. Tigress, can I just say how much I hate you right now?"

"Come on, you guys, hurry up!" Monkey whined from the other side of the undergrowth, which was where Viper had been helping her into disguise.

"Fine. I'm coming out," Tigress said, not sounding at all happy. "Po?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" the panda said grumpily. "And anyone who laughs better be a really good runner, 'cause they are going to feel the thundah!"

Tigress rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure they're all intimidated. Let's go."

She stood up and walked out from behind the bushes. Po did the same from the trees.

Mantis, Monkey, and Crane all stared for about half a minute.

"Y'know, I've witnessed a lot of things in my time," Monkey said, ignoring the warning hiss from Tigress, "But seeing Po and Tigress cross-dress wasn't something I ever even remotely wanted to see."

Both the panda and the tiger couldn't help but go slightly red at this. Tigress was dressed in a man's pair of dark brown pants and a vest that they had stolen off a clothesline in Bao Gu earlier. Po's clothes, on the other hand, had been a lot harder to find. He was wearing the robes of a wealthy lady, as well as blush and bright red lip paint.

"I like the color, Po," said Mantis, trying not to laugh. "Lime green really compliments your eyes. And Tigress just makes the perfect husband."

Tigress glared at him. Po, on the other hand, decided to take it as a joke. "Really?" he said, his voice high and girly. He put a hand on is waist and pushed his hip out, like some sort of fashion model. "Do you think it makes my butt look big?"

The three guys started laughing their own butts off at this, while Tigress gave him a withering look. "Just don't say anything when we get to town," she said. "Let me do the talking."

"Of course, dear, whatever you say!" said Po, still in that girly voice. Tigress growled.

"One more joke and I swear, Po, I'm going to tell Master Shifu where his wanton coupons have been going," she threatened.

"Yes, Tigress," he said hastily, dropping the voice.

"Let's go," she said. "We'll get into Bao Gu and look around for Master Shifu and Master Ah-lam. You guys come at noon, and _don't get caught_."

"Yes- mph!- yes, Tigress," Mantis said, still trying to keep in the guffaws.

As they began to walk away, Tigress said once again, _Don't say anything, no matter what._

_ Okay, but won't people think something's wrong if I'm not talking?_ he pointed out.

She snorted. _Wrong? Po, it's a woman's duty to stand behind her husband and shut up. Or most women's duty, anyway. Besides, you can't sound like a girl, whereas I can sound male if I really try._

_Okay. I got it. No talking._

_ Good._

They walked the few miles to Bao Gu in relative silence. The city was busy; apparently word about the trial had spread, and hundreds of people was here to find out the truth about their beloved Master Tigress (and, of course, to see the fight).

_Bao Gu orphanage is this way,_ Tigress said, walking ahead of him. _Keep your head down, don't look anyone in the eye, and try to look like I'm the greatest thing that ever happened to you._

_ Wow. Vain much?_

She snarled under her breath. _It's how you're supposed to act, not what you actually think!_

_Yeah, well… you don't act like that._

_ I'm a Kung Fu Master, not some simpering housewife. This way._ She lead him down a few more streets, and then stopped suddenly.

In front of her, framed by the gray mountains, was the tall circular building that was forever burned into her memory. She drew in a sharp breath and stood stalk still.

Suddenly, Po took her hand. _Tigress? You okay?_

She didn't answer for a moment, and then, _Whether I am or not isn't the point. We need to get in there._

They joined the throngs that poured into the orphanage. Just as they were about to pass through the doors in, someone said, "You two! Hold it!"

Tigress glanced over her shoulder. "Us?" she said, deepening her voice into an almost masculine tone.

"Yes, you. Get over here!" one of the guards, a wolf, snarled.

They broke away from the group and walked up in front of the guards. Just as the guards were about to speak, she held up a hand. "I think I know what this is about," she said. "You're checking for that fat loser that calls himself the Dragon Warrior and that monster, right?"

_Fat loser?_ Po thought angrily.

_It's just an act, Po. Keep in character._

"Yes, exactly. What are your names?" the wolf said, narrowing his eyes.

"I am Déshéng, and this is my wife, Lin." **(A/N: 'Virtuous Victory' and 'Precious Jade; Forest.')**

"A panda?" the guard said doubtfully.

Tigress puffed her chest out, the perfect image of an arrogant lord. "I like my women exotic. Had to travel all the way to the Northern Mountains to bring her back with me, but trust me, it was worth it. I also like 'em with some meat on their boans, if you catch my drift."

_What?_

_ Shh!_

The guard guffawed. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Well, you got yourself a nice one there, friend, but isn't it a pain to have everyone confusing you with- well, you know."

Tigress rolled her eyes. "You have no idea. A while ago, I had to bring her with to the town healer to have her checked for disease, and we were nearly run over by a bunch of runty kids on the street, babbling on and on about the 'Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress!' Most annoying thing that's ever happened to me."

"Yeah, I'll bet. I'd hate to be confused with _those_ two." He laughed, and Tigress laughed along with. "Please excuse me, Mister Déshéng."

"It's no trouble," she/he said. "Can we go in now? We originally came to adopt, but now we hear that the beast and that overweight bear are going to be battling Master Xun Wei."

"Yeah. I get off my shift at noon. If they show up then, then they get let in. If they try anytime earlier, then we take 'em to Xun Wei, and-" he ran a finger across his throat. Po had to stop himself from gulping. "Go right ahead."

"Thank you," Tigress said, and walked in. Po followed her, but as he did, the guard slapped him on the butt.

_Ohhh, that is it!_ The panda thought angrily, but Tigress grabbed ahold of his arm.

_Focus, Po._

_ 'Meat on their bones' ? Really?_

_ I had to make it believable!_ She said, trying not to growl.

_Yeah, well, that's a little _too_ believable for me, thanks_.

_We need to get away from the crowds._ She glanced around, and a door. It was hidden in the niche between a small door and a wall that jutted out, and Tigress remembered that it was a staircase that spiraled up inside the building, hidden by a layer of stone (a barrier in the circular design of the building), whereas the others simply ascended up the different levels. _This way._

They quickly walked over to the staircase and, glancing around, snuck inside. Tigress closed the door behind her.

The staircase was dark and damp, crawling with spiders. One fell onto Po's shoulder, and he wacked it off with a shudder. "What is this place?" he said aloud, as the whole place seemed creepily quiet.

"A staircase for the cooks, cleaning people, stuff like that. It's the only way to the top of the building, the last wing." Despite her light tone, something about her demeanor told him that she was not okay at all.

"Tigress?"

Her paws were shaking, but she managed to keep her voice steady. "Come on."

They climbed up the staircase, up and up, round and round, until Po started to feel dizzy. The passed seven doors, each to a different level.

"Tigress?" Po said again, wondering if maybe they should stop climbing and just get off on one of the levels. But somehow, Tigress seemed unable to hear him.

She reached the top of the stairs. Above them was a trapdoor. With trembling paws, she gently pushed the door open, grabbed the splintered stair rail, and climbed the last tiny flight of stairs into the wing above.

They were in a long corridor, filled with beds- or used to be beds, anyway. Tigress glanced at them. "It looks as if they were never fixed," she murmured, "But these beds are of a different make than before…"

They began to walk silently around the ring-shaped wing. About halfway through, Tigress stopped, so suddenly that Po almost bumped into her.

"What's up?" he said, confused.

"That," she said, pointing. Three long claw marks were scratched all the way down the wall. "I made that."

"Oh," Po said, not exactly sure what to say. They stood there for a moment, before he said, "Tigress, I'm really sorry-"

"That's not it," she interrupted. "Look." She pointed again, this time to another three marks, right beside the first. These were wider and deeper, whereas the first were thin and razor-sharp. "Those were made by someone else, perhaps a dog."

"Yeah, you're right."

"And look," she said again. She pointed to one of the overhead rafters, in which were carved the words '_**Beware the Monster**_.' But 'Monster' had been crossed out, and another word had been written in. '_**Beware the Freak**_.'

"There's someone else here," she said, and there was sharp tone of anger in her voice.

As they walked a little farther, Po noticed the word _**tigress**_ carved into the wall, surrounded by other, smaller words like ugly, beast, disgusting, and monster. A little ways beneath was the word was the name _**Láng**_** (A/N: 'Wolf')**.

As they grew closer to the end of the corridor, the destruction became worse and worse. About ten feet before what should have been the end, there was a small room with a locked door, perhaps a closet. Po felt Tigress stiffen beside him.

"This is your old room, isn't it?" he said softly. Tigress didn't answer, but she did turn to him. There was terror in her eyes, and Po suddenly realized that who he was looking at wasn't Tigress, the hard-core fighter and the woman he'd fallen in love with; this was Tigress, the small child that everyone considered to be a monster. This was Tigress, the girl who was locked in a small room because of her uncontrollable strength and temper, starved for weeks on end and hungry for someone, _anyone_ who would show her even the slightest hint of kindness.

Slowly, she inched forward, shaking, her steps echoing slightly in the stillness. With trembling paws, she snapped the lock in half, and slowly opened the door.

**A/N: My next chapter will be up soon. This just seemed like a good place to cut off.**


	23. Chapter 23 Wolves,Cats,and Rabbits Oh My

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda. Also, the next scene is based off of the KFP movie "_Secrets of the Furious Five_."

A/N: Wow… over four hundred reviews… and 34 author alerts, and 57 story alerts … I just checked them, and guys, I'm… I'm so stunned. And grateful. I don't even know how to thank you. Please understand that without you, this story would be a million times worse. You guys are so amazing. I don't even know how to say how awesome you guys all are. Thank you. Thank you so, so much.

Also, does anyone know if you can beta a story without the other person seeing your email?

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 10:00 a.m.)**

The door swung open with a creak.

Harsh white light shone in through the window, painting a square on the floor that seemed to be the only space of light in the otherwise dark, dingy room. It was so dark that it took their eyes a moment to adjust. When they did, Tigress saw a small figure sitting in the corner, though it was still hard to make out the features.

"Láng," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper, but holding no uncertainty.

There was a small noise, and two golden-orange eyes suddenly appeared as the figure shifted its head.

"I am Tigress," she said, knowing instantly that this was no time for deception. "I am-"

"Afraid?" the figure said, its voice a low hiss. Tigress recognized the voice as that of a young girl.

She shut the door. "No."

"Well you should be!" Láng said. "I am Láng, Láng the freak!" Her voice broke, and she turned away. "The freak that no one wants."

Suddenly, Tigress rushed forward. Po blinked, surprised, as the tiger master wrapped her arms around Láng, enveloping the small wolf in her embrace. "You're not a freak," she said, her voice catching on the last word. "You're just a little girl."

"Who- who are you?" Láng said uncertainly.

Tigress drew back. "I am Master Tigress of the Furious Five." She turned back to look at Po. "And that is the Dragon Warrior in disguise."

Láng stared at her, dumbfounded. "M-Master Tigress?"

"Yes. We have… business here today, but I promise you, if we are successful, I will take you back with me to the Jade Palace."

Láng suddenly shoved her away. "Don't lie to me!" she snarled, turning away again.

"Why would I lie?"

"Because no one wants me! No one will ever want me! Didn't you hear me? I'm a freak!" she shouted. "I break things. I break _people_. I'm bad and should be locked up for ever and ever."  
>"No," Tigress said. "No, Láng. You're not bad, you just don't know how to control your own strength." She spotted something in the corner and scooped it up in her paw. Gently, she took Láng's paw and pressed the object into it.<p>

Láng glanced at it. "My domino? I found it when they put me in here."

"I know," Tigress said. "This domino… there others like it. We will take you away from here, and when you're at the Jade Palace, I will give you more dominoes. I will teach you how to use them." She closed Láng's paw over the domino. "I promise you that we'll come back, but until then, I want you to keep this domino."

Láng stared at her for a moment. "Do- do you have any food?" she said finally, her voice soft and pitiful. "I'm so hungry… they haven't fed me for-" she counted on her fingers- "Six days now. I ate my pillow yesterday, and now there's nothing left..."

"Po? Do you have anything?"

"Sure, I put some dried noodles in one of the pockets."

She resisted the urge to laugh (of course he would have packed some, just in case) and turned back to Láng. "We'll give you some food, but we have to leave. We have work to do."

Láng nodded and eagerly took the cloth-wrapped packet of dried noodles that Po handed her. She broke them up in her hands and poured it into her mouth.

"We must leave," Tigress said standing up.

"Wait!" Láng said. "You- You'll come back, right?"

Tigress glanced at Po. "We will do everything in our power to," she said. "Láng, another little girl used to live in this room, did you know that?"

Láng nodded. "She made the markings on the walls outside. Everyone thought she was a monster at first, because she broke everything and they said she killed a little bunny, but she wasn't a monster. Not really." She looked out the window. "Somebody came and helped her, and then she left forever," she said wistfully. "Someone must have really loved her."

"Yes, someone did," said Tigress quietly. "And now, you're going to get help, too, and you'll leave this place for good." She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again. "Watch outside your window at noon. We'll be right there, and you'll see what I mean by business. If we accomplish what we came here to do, then we'll come and take you away."

"Promise?" Láng said quietly, and both warriors could hear the catch in her voice as she gambled every last trace of hope she had on their return.

"Promise," Tigress answered. And then, without another word, she and Po turned and walked through the door.

**Small Room, Bottom Level (Below the Ground) (Approx. 10:10 a.m.)**

Shifu coughed himself awake, the blood in his throat nearly choking him.

Every muscle ached, every inch of skin feeling as if it were on fire. His eyes searched the dark room, which was lit only by the flickering orange light of the torches outside the solid iron door, which flickered in through the small hole that not even a rabbit child could slip through. He spotted a two glowing eyes to his right.

"Ah-lam?" he said, his voice raspy and his throat raw. He noticed a chain around his ankle. It was long enough to get to the mountain cat, but not to get to the door. He knew almost instinctively that the chain was imbedded with spider silk, making them unbreakable.

"Shifu. You're awake." Master Ah-lam was also chained, though hers was around her wrist instead.

"And alive," he noticed. "Why didn't Xun Wei kill us?"

"I believe he wants you there to see Master Tigress' and Master Po's deaths," Ah-lam answered quietly.

He sat up and winced as his headache intensified. "How long was I out?"

"From when I woke up, it's been about seven hours. I think I woke up around three, so… it's around ten in the morning."

Shifu nodded, and then shivered slightly. Ah-lam saw this with her cat's eyes. "It's cold in here."

"Yes." He remembered that she didn't have her cloak anymore, and her vest was short-sleeved. "Are you cold, Ah-lam?"

"A bit," she admitted. "But I'm all right."

He untied the Grandmaster robe and took it off, leaving just his normal clothes (the garments of a master) underneath. "Here," he said, placing it in her paw. "It's not much, but perhaps it can help."

"Thank you, Grandmaster, but I can't-"

"Take it. You need to get your strength back, and getting sick is no way to go about doing so," he said sternly.

"Hm. I suppose that's true." She draped the piece of cloth over her shoulders like a shawl. "Thank you, Shifu."

"It's no trouble," he said, though from the moment he'd removed the robe, he'd began to feel cold. He winced as he moved his arm, which had undoubtedly been broken when he'd landed on top of Ah-lam.

"Is something wrong, Grandmaster?" she said, noticing his expression.

"Just a broken arm. I've had worse." He closed his eyes, and immediately images of his students began to flash through his eyes. "Do you think they're all right?"

Ah-lam knew whom he was talking about. "I don't know. I hope so."

Shifu nodded and suppressed a sigh. Even so, a small breath of disappointment escaped his mouth.

"Shifu. What is truly wrong?"

"Nothing. I am fine-"

"You are not," she said, her tone nearly as stern as his. "Something is… worrying you." After a momentary silence, she said, "Shifu, if this relationship is ever going to work, we need to be honest with each other. Do you not agree?"

He cringed. "I- I suppose…"

"Then tell me. What is bothering you?"

He closed his eyes and turned away. After a moment's silence, he said quietly, "I have failed."

"Failed? Failed in what?"

"In my duties. My responsibilities to China and to my students." He breathed in deeply, trying to steady himself. It didn't work. "Ever since my master died, I have felt so… lost. As if I don't know which way to turn." He laid his hand at his side, and strangely enough found Oogway's staff there (he hadn't expected Xun Wei to allow it in the cell with him). He lifted up the end of it, and was once again reminded how much taller it was than him. "When my Master handed me this and told me simply to believe- believe in _what,_ he never said- I did not think I was ready to be the head Grandmaster of Kung Fu. And now… now, that has been proven." He set the staff down on the floor again. "I don't know what Oogway saw in me that told him I was ready, but whatever it was, I certainly can't find it."

"I still don't understand why you claim to have failed," Ah-lam said.

"Since Oogway passed on, almost everything I have attempted or have told my students to do has been a total failure. Po was shot by a cannon and nearly died. Tigress almost lost her life due to a fatal wound in the stomach. Both of them were nearly executed at the hands of Master Sung. And now… now, I can't even protect my own daughter from her past." He sighed bitterly. "They are not ready for the fight, and I am not ready for this responsibility. Why Oogway took me in and trained me, why he chose me to be the Grandmaster… I can't see what he saw, and I don't know what to do. Sometimes I wonder if this was all just an accident."

Suddenly, he felt Ah-lam's paw on his shoulder. He looked behind him, surprised, and stared right into her glowing blue eyes. "There are no accidents," she said simply. "And I know what Grandmaster Oogway saw in you, Shifu. It was determination, and courage, and belief- no matter how grudging- in your students. It was your willingness to do what had to be done, no matter what, and in my opinion the Grandmaster could not have made a better choice in his successor."

Shifu smiled slightly, if not perhaps a little wistfully. "Thank you, Ah-lam. I needed to hear that." He turned and, as he did so, put his own paw on her shoulder.

Suddenly, he realized that something was wrong. Her shoulder didn't feel like it was supposed to. Underneath his paw, he felt hard, knotted lines. Scars.

Ah-lam froze as she realized he'd felt them. He slowly followed them up her shoulders and onto her neck. He could feel more extending down below the neckline of her vest, and even without touching her chest (of course, he would never do such a thing) he knew that the scars trailed down through her chest and perhaps even onto her stomach. He looked up at her, surprised.

Ah-lam closed her eyes in shame. There was a long, stunned silence.

"I- I'm sorry," he said finally. "I never knew-"

"You weren't supposed to."

Another pause.

"Is this why you wear a cloak?" he said quietly.

"Yes," she said, her voice toneless. "I received these scars back when I was seventeen, on my first mission. I knew that no man would ever want me if he knew how ugly my body was, so since that time I've always worn a cloak."

"You knew, then," he said. "You knew when you took it off and threw it at that wolf that I'd see them eventually."

"Yes, I did." She opened her eyes again, and they were very dull. "I'd hoped that I could hide it until Xun Wei decided to kill us, but it's too late now." She glanced away. "Forgive me for deceiving you, Grandmaster." Her tone was formal, as if they were merely acquaintances.

"Grandmaster?" he said, surprised. "Ah-lam, what is-"

"I understand that our courtship has ended," she said dully, "and I would appreciate it if we returned to our formal titles, please."

"Ended? I don't understand," Shifu said, frowning. "Did I do something out of conduct?"

Ah-lam glanced at him with saddened eyes. "Wouldn't you rather have a more beautiful woman? Someone who is… whole?" she said softly, her aged face giving him a small smile, as if trying to tell him she was going to be just fine, even though she really wasn't.

"There is not a more beautiful woman in all of China," Shifu said firmly. "If you wish me gone, Ah-lam, then I will do so, but until that time I will continue to court you."

Surprised, her eyes widened. "Grandmaster, I-"

He took her hand. "You are the most beautiful woman in the entire world to me, Ah-lam, not to mention courageous, graceful and kind. These scars are a display of your bravery and determination, and those are things I value most in you."

"You weigh bravery above beauty?" she said, surprised. She smiled slowly, if perhaps not a little sadly. "You truly are a strange man, Shifu."

He chuckled, also sadly. "So I've been told."

It was cold, so they huddled close together, trying to stay warm.

He didn't know how much longer it was when the door opened to their cell, and in walked…

"Xun Wei," he said, his voice low and full of anger. He struggled to his feet.

Xun Wei wore the robes of a master. His two bunny ears were crooked, as were his two buckteeth. His eyes were narrow, his mouth set into a permanent sneer. At one point in his life, he may have been called 'cute,' but years of both receiving and dolling out cruelty had hardened him into an ugly imitation of his once-innocence. He was about Tigress' age, and roughly the height of Shifu. In his hands was a wooden staff, which was tipped with iron.

"Hello, _Shifu_," he sneered, purposefully ignoring the title. "And Master Ah-lam, how nice."

"How dare you," she hissed. "You will address the Grandmaster by his title!"

There was a loud CRACK! as Xun Wei hit her across the face with his staff, thankfully with the wooden end. Ah-lam let out a sharp cry that quickly turned into a snarl and clutched at her face with the paw that wasn't chained up.

"Don't you dare hit her!" Shifu shouted.

"Or what?" Xun Wei said. "You can't do anything about it, and neither can your little girlfriend."

Ah-lam snarled, and there was a soft _shing_ as she unsheathed her claws. "Care to bet on that?"

Xun Wei laughed and merely hit her again, harder this time, though she bit back her shout. "Oh, poor kitty," he said patronizingly. Then he returned to his regular cruel tone. "You old timers aren't getting out of this room. You see that window?" he pointed to the back end of the room. "We have black cloth covering it, but when it's time for the trial I'll have them removed. You'll have a front-row seat to see the Dragon Warrior and your little girl die."

That was when Shifu lost it. He charged at Xun Wei. Unfortunately, he forgot about the chain around his ankle, and was jerked off his feet. He slammed into the ground chest-first, Oogway's staff skittering off across the floor.

"Shifu!" Ah-lam shouted.

Shifu coughed and crawled up onto his knees. "You- stay away from- my daughter."

"Pathetic," Xun sneered. "What do you think will happen when I kill her, Shifu? Will you curse me when I break her legs? Try to beat down the window bars when I snap her spine?" He put his face right next to Shifu's. "Cry when I thrust my spear through her heart?"

"No!" Shifu said. "Don't- don't hurt her, don't hurt either of them. Please, I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Xun Wei mused.

"Anything. Let me take their place. I'll fight you myself, with both hands tied behind my back! Just let my students go."

"Hm. You say you'll do anything…," the rabbit said. "Would you… take your staff and shove it through her heart?" He pointed a finger at Ah-lam.

"He'd do it," Ah-lam said immediately.

"Then prove it," Xun Wei said, a vicious smile curling his mouth.

Both warriors froze. "What?" Shifu said, still not believing what he'd just heard.

"Prove it. Take the mountain cat's life." He kicked Oogway's staff over to Shifu, who instinctively picked it up.

"Shifu," Ah-lam said from behind him. "Shifu, just- just do it."

"But- No, I-" the red panda tried to say.

"Go on, Shifu. She's even giving you permission." Xun's voice lowered. "So who will it be? Tigress… or her?"

Shifu glanced back and forth between the two. He should have known that the rabbit would do something like this. Xun Wei was playing a game with him, a game with only two outcomes: his daughter, or his love.

The staff was shaking in his hands. How could he choose? How could he make the decision to kill Ah-lam to save his little girl?

"Shifu, do it!" Ah-lam yelled.

"She's right," Xun Wei said nonchalantly. "You could end this all right now, Shifu. You and your students could go home. One life, or eight?"

"Eight?" Shifu shouted.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. If your Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress lose… well, you all die."

"That wasn't the deal!" Shifu shouted. "You can't do that!"

"Actually, I can. The Southern Court of Heavenly Wisdom has agreed that, under the generosity I've shown to Master Tigress by not executing her outright, that your lives are all forfeit." Xun smirked. "So, Shifu, what will you do? Will you kill her for the better? Or will I have to do it myself?"

Shifu looked at Ah-lam. She looked back fiercely. "Shifu. Do it. Now."

He stared at her cerulean eyes, and something in him suddenly steeled. He dropped the staff on the ground.

"No," he snapped. "The Court is not as corrupted as you; they never would have granted you that kind of power, nor would you have let us go." He glared at Xun Wei. "I am not like you, and your lies will not force my hand against my beliefs."

Xun Wei's face contorted to a snarl. "We shall see, Shifu. We shall see." And with that, he whirled around, stalked out the door, and slammed it closed.

Shifu slowly sat down, shaking.

"Shifu?" Ah-lam said quietly. "Why didn't you kill me."

He didn't answer the question, but she already knew the answer. "I swear to you and every god I know, Ah-lam," he said instead, his voice low and dangerous, "If he hurts Po and Tigress, he will pay. I will make him suffer so much that until the day he dies, Xun Wei will regret what he did to Po and my daughter."

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 10:30 p.m.)**

Tigress peered around the edge of the curved wall, looking for anyone that could possibly recognize them. There was no one, so she beckoned with her hand. _Po. This way._

They snuck through the halls, dashing in and out of rooms, looking for Shifu and Ah-lam. With each room they searched, Tigress became more and more agitated, to the point where she had completely shut down and was hardly even talking to Po, speaking only to give directions.

_No one on this level,_ Po said. _Let's try the next._

She didn't reply.

They hurried back down the hidden staircase onto the next level, the sixth. She pressed her ear to the door.

_Be careful,_ she warned,_ I can hear people on this level. Don't break character._

_ Gotcha._

She twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

Crowds of people milled around, waiting for the fight to begin. The lucky ones who came early were gathered around the railing on the inside wall, which opened up into the center courtyard (all except the top floor were designed this way, with the dormitories in smaller rooms around the outside. The circular corridor was smaller to allow this, with doors around the outside walls leading to said rooms). With a glance, Tigress noticed that the old tree that had once stood in the courtyard had been chopped down, and felt a wave of sadness rush through her.

_ She sat in the branches of the tree as it the rain poured down, gently flipping the domino in her hand._

_ She was… lonely. Even though the other children accepted her now (the rumors of Xiao-ping had been hushed up by the matrons, saying it had actually been a surprise adoption, and Tigress had forced herself not to think about it), she still felt so alone. She was different; there was no denying that. She stayed alone on the top floor at night. Though the head matron had said it was only temporary and that she'd be moved back in with the others soon, she knew it was a lie. She was still dangerous, and just because the other children didn't know it, that didn't mean the matrons didn't._

_ She missed Shifu, or Baba, as she thought of him to herself. Slowly, she ran her thumb along the domino, water splattering on the smooth surface as the downpour increased._

_ The rain was cold, just like her. Even though she knew she should have been in bed, she didn't want to be. It was too quiet in there; at least out here, she had the pounding rain to keep her company._

_ The sky split in two as white lightning streaked overhead. The thunder followed, shaking the small tiger like a huge roar. She joined it with a roar of her own. It didn't come out like a roar, though. To her, it sounded more like a keening cry._

She noticed that Po was giving her a strange look, and she said quietly, _Don't look at me; you're supposed to be humble, remember?_

_ Oh, uh, yeah._ He immediately looked down. _How's this?_

_ You're the picture of a perfect housewife._ She glanced around. _Let's go._

The walked along the back walls. Tigress subtly twisted the knobs on each, making sure they weren't locked.

They were almost at the end when Po suddenly stopped her. _Hey, Tigress?_

_What?_

He pointed ahead. _We've got trouble._

She glanced over and saw the guard that had met them at the gate (someone else had obviously taken over his shift) and another guard. The second guard pointed at them, saying something that Tigress couldn't hear. The first shook his head, looking like he was explaining something. The second pushed him in the chest, and Tigress heard him say angrily, "You idiot! No self-respecting tiger finds a mate outside his own species!"

_Run,_ she ordered.

_Yep._

They both whirled around, knocking villagers and fight-goers out of the way. They started to run as fast as they could for the stairwell.

The two wolves saw them and started chasing. "HEY!" one yelled. "SLOW DOWN!"

"Yeah, sure!" Tigress shouted over her shoulder. She looked back in front and vaulted over a stunned bunny with a bean bun cart.

"You couldn't catch us if we were right in front of you!" Po yelled at them, and then slammed headlong into the cart.

Bean buns flew everywhere, making a slippery mess. Po tripped over the bunny and fell down, slamming straight through the floor and down onto the wing below.

"Po!" Tigress shouted, turning mid-stride and running back. She jumped threw the hole.

The floor on the level below was sturdier than the one above, and Po was lying almost unconscious on the ground. "Owww…" he moaned.

"Get up!" She hauled him to his feet, and they took off running again. The halls were so congested that Tigress jumped up on the railing, running along it like a balance beam.

Po cut through the crowds, trying not to run over anybody. "This dress is really hard to run in!" he yelled.

Tigress flipped herself around one of the posts and kept running. She glanced behind her and swore in mandarin. "Po, they're still coming!"

The wolves had followed her through the hole onto the ground below. She reached for one of the knives inside her vest that Shifu always had her carry, and then remembered that she didn't have her vest on.

"GAH!" Tigress glanced back as Po tripped over a duck. She was about to jump off and help him when suddenly-

"Yes!" she hissed with a grin, as he rolled back up onto his feet.

The hidden stairwell was not too far away now. Tigress ran for it, Po just behind her.

Almost there- almost-

She yanked on the doorknob, slamming the door open.

"Hello, Lien," sneered Xun Wei.

**A/N: All right, long chapter! Just a review, the three parts of it were: Meeting Láng; Shifu, Ah-lam and Xun Wei; and Caught.**

** Sorry if the chapter update was too fast, but I had a lot of time today.**

** Please remember to tell me if you can be a beta without having to reveal your email address, and thanks again to everyone who has ever reviewed this story! YOU ARE AMAZING!**


	24. Chapter 24 Final Farewell

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: I was watching a KFP 2 clip on Youtube (Ancient China/Story of Shen, by thefanvideoer2), and if you watch the little thing that tells you it's Dreamworks (the fisherman on the moon) you see that it's actually peach blossoms that sail up to the moon and form Oogway. So Oogway is actually in KFP 2 (in a roundabout way)!

Also, the part at the end of this was created while watching a clip of KFP 2, where Po's mother has to leave him in the radish basket. I almost cry every time I watch it, and I've seen it about thirty times (note: It's under the keywords Kung Fu Panda 2 soundtrack Po finds the truth'). If this were a movie, that's the soundtrack bit that would be playing there.

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 11:00 p.m.)**

Shifu started slightly as the door to the cell opened, and jumped to his feet as two figures were thrown bodily into the room.

Tigress smashed into the wall, whereas Po hit the floor. Four or five guards came in and, before anyone had the sense of mind to stop them, chained up the two new prisoners.

"That'll teach yeh to mess with our master!" one of them shouted. They left, and the door slammed behind them.

"Tigress! Po!" Ah-lam said.

Shifu hurried over to his daughter, while Ah-lam went to Po. "Tigress? Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

The tiger master propped herself up with her arms and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Master, I- I tried to fight my way out, but Xun Wei was too fast…" She hung her head. "I have failed you."

"No, no. You have not failed me, Tigress," Shifu said, examining her numerous cuts and bruises. "How did you get here? Why did you come?"

She coughed. "You are my master. I- ngh!- I had to come. For you and for the Valley."

He nodded sadly. Tigress would never have missed a challenge and let the Valley of Peace suffer for it.

"This is not fair," Ah-lam said angrily. "You cannot fight him like this, not when you are already injured!" Suddenly, she frowned. "Wait. He's not going to execute you, is he? You are going to fight him?"

"What's the point?" Po said dully. "He and his little guard buddies kicked our butts out there. We could have, like, a hundred of us versus ten of them, and we'd still be dead."

"He used others' help?" Shifu said. "That is not his usual style; he must have been worried."

"Oh, yeah, real worried!" Po said sarcastically, which wasn't like him at all. "Come on, Master Shifu, there's no way we're going to beat this guy! We may as well just give up."

Shifu's mouth opened. He hadn't even believed that the words 'Give up' were in Po's vocabulary. He looked over at Tigress, as if seeking reassurance that she didn't feel the same way.

If he was looking for it, he certainly didn't find it. Tigress looked at him, and her eyes held so much defeat and hopelessness that he wondered if this was really Tigress at all.

"The Eye of the-" he started, but Tigress cut him off.

"We could use the Sequence until we die of exhaustion, Master, but it wouldn't help! He's bound to make us give him the Master's Vow not to use it anyway, and when he does, we're out of options." She growled. "He had always been faster and more agile than me; I was a fool for thinking things would be any different."

"Yeah, same here," said Po bitterly. "What was I thinking, that I'd suddenly get better at fighting just because I have some stupid scroll?"

Shifu glanced back and forth between them, not understanding. Out of all his students, Po and Tigress were the least likely to give up. Their determination was so great that they had never before lost hope (or at least, not permanently). Xun had done something to them; probably another one of his little mind games.

"What did he say to you?" Shifu said quietly.

Po and Tigress glanced at each other, and then back down at the ground. "We are sorry for failing you, Master," Tigress said finally, her head bowed.

"_What did he say?_" Shifu said again, this time more urgently.

"We tried to fight him off, but we just… we couldn't, okay?" Po said, not meeting his master's eyes. "We know that we're a- a disgrace to you or whatever; you don't have to say it."

"Did he tell you that?" Shifu demanded. "Did he say that I'm ashamed of you two?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Tigress said in a low voice. "We're just a useless daughter that disappoints her father and a fat panda.

Shifu stood up angrily. "Would you look at yourselves?" he shouted. "You are two of the greatest fighters in all of China, and you're acting like children under reprimand!" He jabbed his staff forward at them like a blackboard pointer, emphasizing his point. "This is one of Xun Wei's mind games, and for the love of all that is Kung Fu, snap out of it!"

Both of them blinked in surprise. "I- Master, you're right," Tigress said slowly, as if waking from a bad dream. "Please excuse us, I don't know what came over me."

"Yeah," Po agreed. "Jeez, that bunny is convincing."

"He's a politician," Shifu reminded him. "He's very persuasive; he almost had me, as well."

"What do you mean?" said Tigress.

Shifu and Ah-lam exchanged a look. "It doesn't matter," the mountain lioness said coolly. "What matters is that neither of you fall for his games again. Understood?"

"Understood," both warriors said in unison.

"We've got a problem, though," Po continued. He glanced at Tigress, and she nodded, knowing what he meant. "If one of us, you know-" he gulped "-dies in the fight, then does the other have to commit suicide or something?"

Shifu stared at them, utterly confused. "What?"

"Won't the universe fall into chaos or something?" said the panda.

The stare continued. "The…universe? Fall into chaos?" He shook himself slightly, still cold. "Who on earth said that?"

"Master Sung told us that just over a month ago," Tigress said, the name accompanied by a growl.

"Ah. I see," Shifu said, sitting back with his legs crossed. "To put it simply, Sung did not have all the information. He only knew what he'd heard through myth and legend, which is often unreliable. Oogway, however, was actually present at the time that the prophecy was made, and I can assure you that in the instance of one of your demises, as horrible as it would be, nothing of that nature would happen to the universe."

"Oh, good," Po said, sounding relieved. "So if I die and Tigress survives, then the world doesn't explode or anything."

"No, the world does not explode," Shifu said, rolling his eyes. But he really wasn't annoyed.

Tigress leaned back against the wall, her face emotionless. "What time is it?"

"Let me check," said Ah-lam, standing up. She walked over to the blacked-out window and peered through the tiny hole she'd punched through earlier with Oogway's staff. "The sun's not at it's peak yet; I'd say it's around twenty after eleven."

Tigress nodded. She blinked a few times and tried not to yawn.

_You tired?_ Po asked quietly through the connection.

_Exhausted,_ she admitted. _But I can't fall asleep._

_ Why not? You worried?_

She gave him a look that quite clearly said, 'No duh.' Then, her face softened. _Yes. But not for what you think._

_ Then for what?_ he said, confused.

She was quiet for a moment, before she said, _I can't stop thinking about Láng._

_ Láng?_ He said, surprised. _The wolf girl?_

_ Yes._ She took him by the shoulder. _Po, if I die in the fight-_

_ You're not gonna-_

_ Listen to me! If I die, but you make it out… I want you to take Láng back with you and take care of her for me._ She looked him dead in the eyes. _I can't let another person suffer for my mistakes._

Unable to find anything to say, he swallowed and nodded.

She closed her eyes, running through a sequence in her head in an attempt to calm herself and stop the horrible images that were rushing through her mind: blood, bone, matted fur and labored breaths. And a horrible, excruciating pain that she knew her mind had conjured up from when she'd been shot with Shen's cannon.

She growled at herself. _Block, arm-lock, strike. Turn; block, arm-lock, strike. Turn to the back; side kick while back fist strike… _**(A/N: those are the first few moves of Heyan Nidan, a Karate kata)**.

Po watched quietly as she thought through the motions, not wanting to disturb her temporary peace of mind. Slowly, as her thoughts quieted, she began to feel grass blow against her legs, and brilliant sunlight stream down, warming her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

She was in the Golden Valley, just as she'd thought. The golden sun radiated out from the East. The gentle breeze ruffled her fur. Slight traces of mist drifted throughout, but they were few and far between. The green grass waved gently, rippling like an emerald ocean. The sky was a brilliant sapphire blue.

It was so peaceful there… so beautiful. She wished that she could stay there forever, and not have to face the trial at all. Some part of her conscience scolded her for this selfishness, but she really did just want to stay there.

SLAM!

Her real-world eyes snapped open as four more figures were hurled through the door. "Nice lot yeh got here, _Grandmaster_," one of the twenty or so guards chuckled, chaining two of the new prisoners.

"Yeah. A bunch of morons!" another yelled, doing the same with the last two.

The door slammed shut behind them, and Viper raised her head as far as she could (the guards had put the cuff around her neck). "Everyone okay?" she said softly.

There were a few murmurs of consent from the other three.

"What are you doing here?" Tigress demanded. "We told you to wait in the forest!"

Viper winced. "Sorry, Tigress. But we couldn't let you and Po go at it alone. We followed you in."

"And you got caught!" she growled. "I knew this would happen if you came with."

"Sorry…" Monkey said, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Hey, like you're to talk," Mantis pointed out. "How'd you get caught, huh?"

"A smart guard found the dumb guard we tricked," Po supplied. "End of story. You?"

"I tried to carry them in through the windows and some kid spotted us," Crane admitted. "We didn't go for the cross-dressing option."

"What?" said Shifu, obviously confused.

"You didn't notice?" Viper asked. "Po and Tigress are, well, pretending to be husband and wife."

"Only Tigress is the husband…" Monkey started.

"…And Po is the wife," Mantis finished.

Shifu blinked, and then said, "Po, Tigress, come a little closer."

The two masters winced and crept forward. Shifu squinted at them in the darkness, and then his eyes widened. "Good lords, what _are_ you two wearing?"

"Yeah, I know," Po agreed. "Lime green really isn't my color."

Tigress glared at the panda. "Believe me, Master, it was the best plan available."

"Hm. I don't doubt you, but for the record I'm never going to get this image out of my head," Shifu said, grimacing.

"Neither am I," Monkey volunteered.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm seriously enjoying this," Mantis said. "I mean, come on, this is HILARI-" His words were cut off as Tigress growled at him.

There was a lengthy silence after that, as everyone returned to the serious situation at hand. After a long, long time, Tigress said in a low voice, "This is all my fault."

Everyone looked up at her, surprised. "Tigress, that's not true," Viper said softly.

"Yes," she growled, "it is. We wouldn't be here in the first place if it wasn't for me, and now my plan's gotten us all caught."

"Tigress, you didn't make us get caught," Mantis said. "It's our fault we're all stuck here; we were the ones that followed you."

"No. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," Shifu said, shaking his head. "No one but me is to be blamed for this. You were not given enough time to come up with a decent plan, and I have not been the Grandmaster I should be."

"Hold up!" Po said, interrupting them. "Look, it's no one's fault here but Xun Wei's. He's the one that wants to kill Tigress and me, remember? So nobody is responsible but him."

"But-" Tigress began, but Po stopped her.

"If we keep trying to point fingers at ourselves, nothing is good is going to happen," he pointed out. "So let's just quit it, okay?"

They looked around at each other. "Yeah, you're right, Po," Mantis said.

"Absolutely," Viper agreed. "No one is to blame here. It's nobody's fault."

Shifu nodded wearily. "Po's correct. Blaming ourselves will get us nowhere."

"I wish there was something we could do to help," said Ah-lam quietly.

Everyone agreed. Po and Tigress thanked them, but said that of course they could do nothing.

"What time is it?" Tigress asked once again, after a little bit.

Ah-lam checked the window. "I'd say it's around the half-hour."

Po swallowed nervously. Tigress said nothing.

After what seemed like forever, but was in reality only about twenty minutes, Tigress suddenly stood up. Everybody looked over at her, staring at her glowing red eyes in the darkness of the room.

"I owe you all a thank you," she said, her voice slightly harsher than she wished it to be.

"Tigress-" Viper started, but Tigress cut her off.

"No, listen to me." She looked them all dead in the eye. "I never thanked you- any of you- for everything you've done for me. Stuck beside me, trusted in me, helped me… the gods know that, with the way I treated you, I didn't deserve it. My pride got in my way so much that I couldn't even see what you were all doing for me." She turned to Shifu. "Especially you, father. Not just for rescuing me from this orphanage, but for giving me a place in this world other than a simple housewife. For training me and raising me." Everyone stared at her; big emotional speeches weren't exactly Tigress' forte. "And to you," she said, looking at the four, "for being my family. Even you, Master Ah-lam." She gave the cougar a small smirk. "The first female ever to master Kung Fu, and my inspiration to train until my knuckles were bloody and my bones broken. I owe you all more than you can ever know, and you have my apologies for not thanking you sooner." She dropped to one knee and put her fist into her palm, her head bowed low in the ultimate sign of respect.

"Yeah, same here," said Po, also going to a knee. "You guys are totally awesome. I mean, Master Shifu, you turned me, a big fat panda, into the Dragon Warrior! And the Five… It was, like, my dream to meet you guys, and now I'm actually friends with you. And Master Ah-lam, you're freakin' amazing!" He grinned. "Maybe I wouldn't be here right now if I hadn't become the Dragon Warrior, but it's all worth it, just to have buddies like you." He put his fist into his paw as well and bowed.

Everyone looked at them for a moment. Mantis sniffed. "Aw, man, that's touching."

As if one, they all put their paws into their palms (or, in Viper and Crane's case, their tail/wing into the air/other wing) and bowed. Shifu suddenly broke away and rushed forward, pulling his daughter from her bow and into an embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to keep his voice steady for his daughter's sake. "I'm sorry that, when you were younger, I never told you I was proud of you, that I- I loved you." He drew back and looked her dead in the eye. "You are my daughter, and I have _always_ been proud of you." He looked at Po, and said, "Both of you."

Both warriors stood and bowed to their master. Shifu put his paw in his palm again and bowed back for one last time.

The door behind them clicked open, and a troop of guards walked through. They unlocked the ankle cuffs while simultaneously handcuffing the two warriors' paws behind their backs, and then looped a length of chain around each of their legs with just enough room to walk with in between.

"Let's go," one of the guards said roughly, giving Tigress a shove to get her moving. She and Po walked out of the room slowly.

Shifu watched them until one of the guards slammed the door shut. When they did so, he jumped atop his staff and peered through the bars, watching with eyes that were half-closed with unshed tears as his daughter walk away, knowing that never again would he ever be this close to his child.

At that moment, he was not thinking about his failure with Tai Lung, or how to hide his feelings for her safety. All he could think now was that he was losing his little girl forever.

And then, they rounded the corner… and were gone.


	25. Chapter 25 Sou Court of Heavenly Wisdom

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: I would like to publicly thank 12sapphire for creating a flipnote series of Eye of the Dragon on Flipnote Hatena. Thank you, 12sapphire, and may I say that you officially rock the socks off of rocks!

Also, just so everyone knows, the design of Bao Gu does not technically make sense with what I've written. Please ignore the architecture and focus on the plot.

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 11:55 p.m.)**

The guards dragged the panda and the tiger down several flights of stairs, to a basement that Tigress only vaguely remembered. Said basement was stuffy and hot, due to the lack of windows and the numerous torches that burned around the outside, making the walls appear a bloody red. Despite the heat, Po shivered.

The guards walked them into the center of the room, in front of a row of chairs that had been set up, thirteen in all.

Tigress stood straight and tall, barely moving at all, even to breath. Po, on the other hand, fidgeted as the waited, counting the torches and trying to think 'happy thoughts.' When Tigress shot him a glare for thinking about the time he'd accidentally knocked her down the Palace stairs (so what if it wasn't a very nice thought? It was still funny!), he decided to abandon that idea and instead began to do what he did best: babbling like an idiot. _We are so dead; how are we going to get out of this; what do we do; are you going to deny everything; what if we lose; what if we win; what should we do; what can we do; oh no, oh no, oh-_

_Po, shut up!_ She snapped. He stopped talking. _Listen to me: we are going to get convicted. It doesn't matter what we say; Xun Wei has this trial completely rigged. But even if I'm stuck, I might be able to get you out of this._

_ What? But I don't want-_

The door slammed open behind them, and thirteen men in long robes came in. They were an assortment of animals: an ox, a wolf, an owl, and many more. Six stood in front of the left of the center chair (the largest) and six to the right. The last man, a goose and the court scribe, went and sat down in a small chair and desk off to the side.

Through the doors came the final judge: Xun Wei.

His white pelt contrasted brilliantly with his red eyes, especially in the light. He was holding a tall staff with a pointed metal tip. Tigress felt her own scarlet gaze narrow and her lips pull back into a silent snarl.

Xun Wei walked to his chair without even looking at the prisoners. The other twelve judges bowed to him. He didn't bow back.

Slowly, the other six took their places, though Xun Wei remained standing, looking expectantly at Po and Tigress.

"You will bow to the Honorable Xun Wei!" one of the guards shouted. Another shoved the two of them to their knees, the chains rattling.

Xun Wei smirked and walked a few paces forward. "Names?" he asked, as if he didn't already know.

"Master Tigress, daughter of Shifu and leader of the furious five," Tigress answered, her voice steady.

There was a pause. Xun looked up. "I said names, not name."

Before Po could respond, Tigress said, "This is an official court case, not a role call. I am the one on trial." To Po, she said, _Keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking._

_ Tigress, I don't think this is a good idea-_

_ I know what I'm doing. I can't promise anything, but I may be able to get you out of the fight._

Xun's eyes narrowed. "That's right, you are. And don't forget your place." He paused a moment, and then said, "Judge in charge of the case: His Honor Xun Wei. _Master_ Tigress, (he spat her name as if it were an insult to masters everywhere) you are on trial for the murder of Xiao-ping. What do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Tigress said calmly.

_What are you-_

_ Shh._

"You hear that, fellow judges?" Xun Wei said, turning back to the other twelve. "Not guilty. Even though she knows exactly what happened, she pleads _not guilty!_ Court members, I propose that we waste no time in imposing the correct punishment-"

"Excuse me," Tigress said coldly from behind, "But I wasn't finished."

Xun Wei stopped, and then turned around. He sneered. "Is that so? Please, then, continue."

Tigress glared at him. She hated this. She hated kneeling like a prisoner in front of him. But a prisoner she was, and in any case, she couldn't get up or the guards would just shove her down again.

"You call this a courtroom," she said, her voice holding the merest hit of a growl, "And yet you do not even give the accused time to defend herself."

Xun Wei's sneer became more pronounced. "Do you have a representative?"

"I will represent myself," Tigress said.

The rabbit's face contorted even farther, until it was a snarl. "Fine. You have… two minutes."

"Thank you, _your Honor_," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She composed her thoughts for a moment, and then began.

"First off, the Dragon Warrior is not the accused; you have no right to treat him, my master, or any of my comrades as you have. You have locked them up, beaten them, and refused them of any basic rights. I demand that you release them immediately!"

"You are in no position to be making demands, MasterTigress," Xun countered.

"And you are in no position to be violating the law of China, laid down by the Emperor himself!" Tigress snarled. "You have no right to hold them and therefore _must_ release them!"

"They would disrupt the case if we let them go," Xun said smoothly, his face regaining his usual cockiness. "The Court cannot release them, or they would interfere. We have reason to restrain them, and as such we have the right to exercise caution. This also includes putting any of them on trial for being accessories to your crime."

"Accessories?" she said, her eyes narrowing.

"They did not do everything in their power to convict you once they knew, but rather helped you. Therefore, they are accomplices. If I were you, I would be grateful that we've only chosen to execute you and the Dragon Warrior. And, my friends," he said, turning around, "do not be mislead. The Dragon Warrior has only defended China for his _own_ sake. His defeat of Tai Lung was to achieve the status of greatness; he killed Lord Shen as revenge to the death of his parents; and the death of Master Sung was not his to claim at all. He. Is. A. _Fake_."

Tigress growled, but admitted defeat on this point. "Secondly, you accused me of one charge, the charge of murder, and then said that my claim as non-guilty was false."

"Which it is."

"It is not!" she thundered. "The charge to which I would have answered guilty is animal slaughter."

Xun looked stunned for a moment, before his eyes narrowed again. "You claim that Xiao-ping's death was an accident?"

"I do. At the time of his death, my strength was as of yet uncontrollable. I attempted to engage him in a game and through that mistake knocked him out the window." She lost eye contact for a moment, glancing down at the floor. Then, she looked up again. "It was not intended as any form of harm and therefore not murder. Any resident of the orphanage at that time, _including yourself_, could tell you that until the visit of my master, my… abilities… were not fully under my control, and any street fool can tell you that a four year old is incapable of committing murder."

"Irrelevant!" Xun snapped. "Perhaps no _normal _child could have done it, but you are not normal. You are a carnivore, a freak of nature, a cannibal!"

Everyone drew a sharp breath at this, as the fact of her race was brought to light. The other court members exchanged glances, as if to say, _'He has a point. She's not normal.'_

"Tell me, _monster_," he snapped, but Tigress and Po (to whom he was facing) could see his satisfied smirk, "how many poor, defenseless people have you slaughtered to satisfy your cravings? How many innocents have become your meals?"

Tigress felt her stomach convulse at the gory image that flooded her mind. "None," she growled.

"None? Spare us the lies. I've never heard of a vegetarian tiger," Xun said, sneering.

"Then you're an idiot," Tigress snapped. "My diet doesn't include anybody, thank you."

"Court members," Xun said, turning once again, "I believe we have enough evidence. Regardless of whether she is guilty or not- which, I assure you, she is- she must die for the safety of all of China! I say we vote now: all in favor of executing her and her accomplice here?"

Five hands went up slowly. Xun put his hand up, as well. When the other seven still hesitated, he said, "Would you have her killing your families? Devouring your wives and children? Her kind must be disposed of, for the good of all."

At this, those who had been tentative immediately raised their hands. Xun Wei turned and smirked. "You will be brought into the arena in ten minutes, where I and my assistants will execute you personally."

"Assistants?" Po shouted, forgetting his vow to be silent. "You're supposed to be on your own! That's _so_ not fair!"

"The taking of innocent lives is what is unfair!" Xun sneered. "We have decided. The Court is adjourned."

Slowly, the other judges stood up and filed out. Once the door had closed, Xun Wei turned, that cold sneer still upon his face. Slowly, he walked towards them, looking Tigress dead in the eye. Tigress looked back defiantly.

"You poor fools," the rabbit said condescendingly. "Did you actually think you could win? I have this court wrapped around my little paw."

"Coward," Tigress hissed.

Xun Wei smirked, though his eyes showed his fury. He hit Tigress across the face with the metal end of his staff. She bit down hard on her tongue to keep herself from crying out; the blood tasted hot and metallic. "I'd be nicer if I were you," he said, putting his face just inches from Tigress'. "After all, I'll be the one killing you within the hour."

"Then why bother being polite?" she hissed back. "After all, I'm just going to die anyway, right?"

"Oh, you will die, make no mistake," Xun Wei vowed. "But after all, I can choose how to end you. I can make it nice and fast, or…" He took the staff and put it on the brown vest, just above her heart. "I can make you suffer for hours on end."

Tigress' face contorted into a snarl and then, suddenly, she roared.*

Po was frozen in shock. He'd never heard Tigress roar full-power before- she usually restrained herself to growls and snarls- and he was freaking terrified. He was so scared that he was literally paralyzed by fear. **

Xun Wei's eyes went so wide, they looked like they might fall out of his head. He took a step back.

Tigress finished, glaring at him, her mouth still pulled back into a hiss. The rabbit's faced twisted into a snarl to match Tigress', and without another word, he turned and left.

Tigress slumped down onto her heels, eyes closed.

_How did you do that?_ He said, surprised. _You were freakin' amazing; like, a lawyer or something._

_ Master Shifu has a library in the Jade Palace, in one of the back rooms. Usually nobody goes in there, but I usually go there when he gives us a day off._ She still wasn't looking at him, and even her mind-voice sounded strange.

_Tigress?_ He said, his tone suddenly very soft. She didn't answer. _Tigress, what's wrong?_

_I'm sorry,_ she said quietly. _I tried, but I couldn't help you._

_ Tigress, listen to me: I want to fight him, okay?_

She looked at him, surprised. _What?_

He looked her straight in the eyes. _If you're going to fight him, then I want to be right there with you._

She stared at him. _I…_

_If you fight, I fight. If you die, I die. Tigress, I will never leave you alone like that, okay?_

She was stunned. No one else had ever said that to her. _Po… Thank you._

Something hit the panda, right at that moment: he had to propose. Now. Now or never.

_Tigress,_ he said, his voice suddenly worried. _I have something important to ask you._

She looked at him, confused. _Po?_

_ Tigress, if we survive this fight, will you… will you marry me?_

Her mouth opened in shock. _Wh-what?_

_ Will you marry me?_ He said again.

She stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. Po shifted uncomfortably; what if she hated him now?

And then, slowly and bitterly, she began to laugh.

_What? Why is she laughing?_ He thought, panicked. Tigress heard him and stopped her chuckles abruptly.

"I'm sorry," she said aloud. "I- I'm not laughing at you. It's just… I never thought that any man would ever want me, and now, just before I go into the most dangerous fight of my entire life…"

"Yeah, I know," he said apologetically. "Not the best timing, huh?"

She gave him a small, sad smirk. "Perhaps. But at least it happened before… Po, if we get out of this alive, I'll plan the wedding myself."

"Don't say that," he said seriously. "We're going to make it, okay? We can do this."

She closed her eyes with a grimace. "Po-"

"No, Tigress. Don't say we can't. We _can._"

The feline master reopened her eyes and looked him straight in his. She saw the conviction, the courage and determination. Slowly, she nodded. "You're right," she said, her voice gaining confidence. "You're right. We can do this."

"That's the Tigress I know." He gave her a grin, and she smirked back. She moved slightly closer to him, and said, _You look like an idiot in that dress._

_ Huh? Oh, yeah. I'll get it off when they unchain us; I've got my regular pants underneath, and there's no way I'm going to fight him with this thing on._

She moved closer still, until they were side by side. She gently leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, grateful for the small moment of calm in the chaos that had become her life.

Po went slightly red, but did not move away. He closed his eyes as well, feeling her warmth on his shoulder, and prayed to anyone who would listen that, somehow, this would not be the last time.

*** If you want to hear a tiger roar for real, go to ****http :/www .youtube .com /watch?v=gz 3jJDIHl6I&f eature=relat ed**** .**

**** This is actually true. Tigers really do stun their prey by roaring (****http :/www .funtrivia. com/en/subtopics/Shh—What-Was-That-Noise-332120. html**** ). Don't bother clicking on the address, I just had to have that there for legality issues.**

** Note: Fight scene up next! I would have had it here, but I needed the trial to actually be in there.**


	26. Chapter 26 The Battle Begins

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: Again on the architecture thing: I know I said that the room where Shifu and the others are is underground. My mistake; it's actually on the third floor.

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 12:05 p.m.)**

When the guards came again, Po and Tigress immediately were looking separate directions. The wolves, rhinos, and boars dragged the two prisoners to their feet and unlocked their arm cuffs, but not the legs (you couldn't get far trying to run in the leg chains).

"Ugh, thank the gods," Po muttered, and quickly shed the bright green robe. "That thing was sooooo itchy…"

Tigress rolled her eyes and didn't say anything.

They were lead back up the steps and stopped just in front of the door to the outside.

Tigress looked dead ahead, her arms straight down at her sides. Po glanced at her. _Tigress? Are you okay?_

She looked over at him, her lips twitching slightly, as if she was unsure where to smile or not. _We'll see._

The doors suddenly opened, letting in the harsh, bright sunlight and the noise of hundreds of people.

"Out you go," one of the guards said with a laugh. They shoved Po and Tigress forward.

The crowds roared as they stumbled into the sunlight. Whether it was a roar of approval or a boo, Po didn't know.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Po and Tigress both turned and saw Xun Wei in the southern end of the arena that had been created in the center courtyard. The sun was almost directly overhead, eliminating any shadows and giving the crowds a clear view of the fight. "We have for you today a great show, the execution of a murderer. By the sound of your voices, who here believes Master Tigress to be a killer?"

Over half the crowd shouted out.

"Who here is in denial?"

Less yelled this time.

"WHO BELIEVS SHE SHOULD DIE?"

There was a small outcry at this, mainly from Xun's guards. The rest of the crowd was dead silent, glaring defiantly at the rabbit.

Po looked at Tigress, surprised. _Ooookay, so the crowd is on our side._

_ You're the savior of China,_ the feline answered. _Whose side did you think they would be on?_

_Yeah, but the question wasn't about me, it was about you._

She let this sink in a moment. Even though the people knew that she had killed Xiao-ping, they still held their loyalty to her. She felt her heart go to her throat at the thought.

Xun Wei hid a snarl and said, "Executioners, to me."

Ten guards filed in through the doors, standing behind Xun Wei. Another two came forward and unlocked the chains on Po and Tigress' ankles.

The rabbit came forward. "Who would have thought it," he sneered. "The crybaby Pillsbury Po Boy and the ferocious Monster, side by side." He flicked his staff, and said, "Hold up your hands."

Both warriors glared, and then did so.

"Repeat after me: 'I swear on my Warrior's Honor and my Eternal Spirit that I shall not use the Eye of the Dragon in this fight.'"

"I swear on my Warrior's Honor and my Eternal Spirit that I shall not use the Eye of the Dragon in this fight," both said, Tigress' voice containing a bit of a snarl.

Xun smirked and turned away, walking back to his end of the court.

_Back up,_ Tigress ordered. _Go to the northern end of the arena._

_ Gotcha._ He followed her to the end of the arena opposite Xun Wei.

Said rabbit took a step forward and raised his staff high into the air. "Let the execution… begin!"

The ten wolves roared and charged at the two warriors.

"Go!" Tigress shouted aloud.

She and Po ran forward, meeting the opposition. The battle was on.

A wolf tried to jump Tigress. The feline master flipped him over her back and blocked another attack coming from her side, before kicking the second wolf back into a third. She didn't have time to finish the job, however, because a fourth had just grabbed onto her arm.

Big. Mistake.

Tigress executed a simple wrist-escape before grabbing him and throwing him bodily to the ground. Dropping to a knee for a split second, she let out an ear-shattering "KYAH!" and punched him right in the temple, knocking him unconscious.

Po blocked another attacker that was about to stick is claws through her back and kicked him in the knees. There was a loud snapping sound as said knees were broken, bringing the wolf a good two feet lower. Po aimed another kick, this time at his head, and then whirled around to flip over one of the wolves Tigress had kicked away earlier and was coming back for more.

_Po, behind you!_ Tigress shouted. The panda barely had time to turn around before he downward blocked a jab at him from Xun Wei's staff. "That's a sharp stick, that's a sharp stick!"

The bunny snarled and swung again, this time at Po's head. The panda dodge out of the way, and let out a sharp, surprised yelp as another wolf tried to take his head off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xun Wei go after Tigress.

_Tigress, evil rabbit!_

_ Got it!_ She flipped over her present opponent, blocked the staff, and jumped over Xun Wei onto the back of another wolf. _Po, knife!_

_ What?_

_ KNIFE!_

"WHOA!" He jumped out of the way as one of the wolves pulled a knife out from inside his shirt and charged. "Oh, come on! You guys get knives? That's totally unfair!"

"Too bad," the wolf chuckled, and slashed down at the panda.

Po barely managed to get out of the way in time, but as it was, the knife left a wide, shallow cut on his chest. "Hey!"

The wolf laughed again and went for another kill shot, this time to the stomach. Po dodged to the side, grabbed the wolf's paw and flipped him backwards onto the ground. He squeezed his opponent's thumb down until the wolf let out a loud shout and dropped the knife. Po picked it up, glad to have a weapon, before the wolf jumped back up and knocked it out of his hands.

Tigress caught a few glimpses of what they were doing, and realized that the two men were basically playing a game of keep-away with the knife.

Po jumped for the knife, the entire world seeming to go slow-mo. as he did so. Suddenly, the wolf reached up at the same time, batting the knife away. The weapon shot out of the arena, hitting a wooden support pillar on the second level. The bunny family nearby all gulped as the knife struck, quivering in the wood.

The panda and the wolf glared at each other, as if to say, 'Great. Now neither of us has a weapon, and IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!'

And then, Po attacked again, and they were back to fighting.

As the panda fought of three wolves at once, he knew things were getting desperate. If he didn't find some sort of advantage soon, both he and Tigress were dead meat. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted them: the ankle chains.

They weren't much, but they had to be worth _something_. The problem was, he couldn't get to them, seeing as he was just a tad busy trying not to die.

_Tigress! _He shouted. _I need your help!_

_I'm kind of busy, Po!_ "HRAH!" She kicked a wolf so hard he flew into one of the doors that surrounded the arena, and then slumped to the ground. In the next instant, she was leaping over Xun Wei's staff, blocking the wood and trying not to get hit by the metal end.

_Okay, but I've got an idea._ He blocked a punch from one of the opponents. _We can use those chains, but I can't get to them if I have to deal with these guys._

_ Hold on._ She flipped over Xun, blocked the staff one more time, and pounced on one of the wolves attacking Po. She grabbed said wolf by the shoulders and spun him around in a circle, knocking all three of them out. "GO! GO!" she yelled aloud.

"Gotcha!" He ran forward and, dodging another knife attack, scooped up the chains.

_Po! Xun Wei!_ Tigress shouted.

Po turned and ducked as the rabbit's staff tried to stick him through the eye. "Whoa! Whoa-ho-ho!" He swerved in and out, dodging Xun's attacks and simultaneously shouting at Tigress, whom the final five wolves were all trying to bring down.

The feline was barely a blur, flipping in and dodging out, blocking, kicking, scratching and punching. She spring boarded off the back of one and landed on another, before plucking a thrown knife out of midair and sending it back at the attacker, who just barely moved out of the way.

Po's attention was brought back to the fight as the sharp, metal end of Xun Wei's staff caught his arm, drawing a line of blood. "Ow!"

The rabbit laughed cruelly and jabbed again. This time, Po instinctively swung one of the chains at the wood, attempting to block it. The chain wrapped around it, and when Po pulled back, tossed the staff behind him.

Po looked down at the chains, surprised. "Ha HA!" he laughed, twirling them around. "WHOO HOO! YEAH! TIGRESS, CATCH!" He threw one of the chains in her direction.

Tigress jumped into the air and caught the chain by one of the cuffs. She landed again and swung them like a pair of nun chucks. "KYAH!"

Po tried to do the same, but ended up hitting himself in the nose. While he was preoccupied, Xun Wei rolled under his arms and snatched up his staff again.

_Incoming!_ Tigress roared, and suddenly, an orange blur was behind the rabbit.

_What about the wolves? _Po asked.

_Finished. Get ready!_

Xun Wei turned and, upon seeing that his comrades were all down, smirked dangerously. "So," he sneered. "The real games begin."

On the eighth floor, high above, Láng watched with narrowed eyes as her two heroes put their hands into fighting stance. "Please," she prayed, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Please, if you can hear me… I know I've been bad. I know I'm not normal. But if you're listening up there… Please, they've got to survive. They've just got to."

Below on the ground, both warriors' eyes narrowed, waiting for the attack. _You ready?_ Po asked.

_Ready, _she said, her tone determined. It was time to end this.

And then, Xun attacked.

The dodged in and out, blocking the staff at every turn. When Xun flipped Po over, Tigress took the defense, giving the panda time to get back up. When Tigress was thrown to the other side of the arena, Po did the same.

Suddenly, the panda was tossed once again against the walls. With a growl, Tigress pounced forward, blocking every strike and landing blows of her own.

Xun snarled in frustration, and then, suddenly, he said in a low voice that only Tigress could hear, "But it really doesn't matter, does it, Lien? Even if you and the panda win, you'll still be what you've been all this time: a _monster._"

Tigress froze for barely an instant at his words, and that was when Xun made his move. He thrust the spear forward, aiming for her stomach. She barely dodged out of the way in time so that he missed by a few inches, but it wasn't enough.

The staff pierced her leg, hitting the side of her thigh. However, it didn't lodge itself in the muscle; it went all the way through, breaking her femur (the most painful bone to break in the body).

"NO!" Shifu shouted, pressing himself against the bars of the window. _NO! TIGRESS!_

The shock on Tigress' face lasted for an instant before the pain hit. It was agonizing, as if someone were stabbing her with knives all the way along her spine into her head. She screamed, her vision flashing red and black. Her entire world was chaos, pain, excruciating pain, as if she'd been hit by lightening, stabbed with swords, tortured and beaten and dropped into the fires of Hell.

She fell to the ground, writhing in agony. In her ears she could hear a loud roaring, and while her physical mouth could barely find the air to scream, some part of her- the warrior, drilled into her by years of training- knew that, lying here on the ground, she was an open target. Dead meat. Finished.

It was all over. She was going to die. This- this was the end.

But…

Even she was going to die, Tigress was still a true fighter, right to the bitter end. She wasn't going to die cowering with her eyes shut, waiting for the final blow; she was going to see her attacker, even if she was in too much pain to fight back.

She opened her eyes, her vision tinted a sickening red by the blood from a cut on her forehead that one of the wolves had dealt her earlier.

"Pathetic," Xun Wei sneered, raising his spear. The harsh sunlight seemed to set the sharp metal tip aglow. "Goodbye, Lien."

And then the staff came plunging down.


	27. Chapter 27 Final Chapter!

Chapter 27

Final Chapter! But don't worry, there will be another sequel (triquel?).

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

A/N: You know that bit in KFP 2 where Po has the flashback to when his mom left him in the radish bin, and then the Soothsayer says something like "Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of the story, who you chose to be." After that, Po has a little life-flashback thing. That's how you should see Tigress' here (yeah, cheesy, I know. But I like it!).

Also, if you want to read something really amazing by one of my absolute favorite authors, please go to _Pretty Sure It's a Miracle_ by alicehatter239 . Trust me when I say that this author is amazing; we are forever debating on who is a better writer ("You are!" "No, you are!" "No way, alice, YOU are!").

**April 12, Day 10, (Approx. 12:20 p.m.)**

And then the staff came plunging down.

A loud, wordless roar split the air, and a mass of black and white flew across Tigress' vision, tackling the rabbit. Seconds later, Po was thrown back next to Tigress, slamming into the ground with a loud THUD!  
>Tigress lay there, shaking with pain and struggling to breathe. It was worse than when she'd been shot with Shen's cannon, worse than anything she'd ever felt before. Her breath came in short, quick gasps, like a fish in shallow water. Her senses were consumed by pain, the outside world a blurred shadow of existence that she could barely register.<p>

On the other side of the court, Xun Wei stood, panting. "You thought- you could bring me down- panda?" he said, panting slightly. "I am the greatest fighter- in all of China. You never even had- a chance."

Po muttered something about 'stupid little bunnies' and 'supposed to be cute,' before pushing himself up again onto his feet.

"What?" Xun mocked. "Coming back for more? You still hungry, Po?"

"You know it!" Po shouted, though his voice was hoarse.

"You never did have any sense. I'm surprised; you're _slightly_ a better fighter than the crybaby you used to be."

"Yeah, well, I've got one of the best masters in all of China!" Po said proudly. "And if you'd played fair, he could have totally kicked your butt!"

"Played fair? Played fair? This isn't some game, you fat moron," Xun Wei said, laughing. "You're a real Dragon Warrior, by the way. Can't you do anything without that monster?" Before Po could answer, the rabbit switched to Tigress. "After all, you're just another freak, Lien-hua. You do realize that he never loved you? That nobody could ever love you?"

"Shut up!" Po yelled, but Xun still continued.

"You never had a place in this world, Tigress. You were meant to die from the very beginning. You are an abomination and deserve to be put down."

Tigress heard this all as if from a distance, her eyes closed as she shuddered on the ground. She didn't respond, but she could feel tears start to form behind her eyes.

_No!_ some part of her snapped. It sounded a lot like Shifu. _Don't you dare give him the satisfaction._

"Tigress," Po said quietly, turning to her, while Xun Wei continued to taunt. "Tigress, I know how much it hurts, but you have to get up."

Somehow, she mustered the energy to respond verbally. "What's the point?" she muttered, her eyes meeting his. He could see how filled with shame they were.

"What's the point?" he repeated, incredulous. "The point is that I can't do this without you. I can't do anything without you. I need you, okay?"

She offered him a weak ghost of a smirk. "Po. I- can't help- you. It'd- be pointless- to get up."

"Tigress, listen to me," he said seriously. "You are more than that. You aren't a freak of nature. You aren't just the other half to the Eye of the Dragon. You are Master Tigress, the leader of the Furious Five. You are the warrior that does what everyone else is too scared to do. You are the one who never gives in, no matter how badly you want to. You are the only one of us that hasn't quit yet, and I know you, Tigress. I know that you won't start now." He put out his hand.

And suddenly, with that motion, Tigress' mind was sent reeling into the past.

…_The dominoes were sent spiraling, forming a Yin-Yang…_

_ …The Adversary bounced back as she hit it, her eyes sparkling with accomplishment…_

_ …Po nodded as Oogway pointed at him, and she snarled silently, not understanding why…_

_ …She blocked the punches Tai Lung threw at her, balancing precariously on the bridge…_

_ …She put her fist into her palm and bowed to the panda, the Dragon Warrior…_

_ …She knocked him out of the way of Shen's cannon, knowing that she couldn't lose him again…_

_ …She laughed with joy as the balance of the world surrounded her, was her, and he was her, too, and everything was an endless chorus of golden harmony…_

_ ..._ _"You're not alone in this thing, Tigress. We're all in this together. A team, just like always…"_

_ …She offered her hand to Po to pull him from the water…_

Po's hand was still out, and suddenly, she realized that everything was exactly how it should be: the pain, the humiliation, what her past and present and even future all meant, all of it was pointing to this very moment. What she had done then… it was nothing compared to who she was now. Po's hand was ready to pull her up out of the water, and all she had to do was take it.

Paw shaking, she reached up and took his.

Xun Wei stopped taunting them as Po pulled Tigress up onto one foot. Perfectly balanced, she raised her hands into fighting position, a determined, hardened look on her face.

The rabbit stared for a moment, stunned, before his eyes narrowed. "As you want it," he hissed, and attacked.

_Go!_ Po shouted.

They dodged around the staff, Tigress flipping forward off her forepaws to make up for her bad leg.

Xun Wei swung the staff at Po. The panda evaded it, and then aimed a kick at the rabbit. Xun blocked it, before whirling around to dodge an attack from Tigress.

The feline master snarled and, jumping into the air, attempted a roundhouse kick with her good leg. Xun Wei was thrown a few feet backwards, flipping off his hands.

The three of them circled in and out, dodging, blocking, striking and flipping. Po rolled out of the way as Xun Wei jabbed the staff at him, before Tigress flipped over the panda and attempted to palm-heel strike the rabbit. The two warriors fought without verbal communication, nor even with words between their link. Thoughts were traded instantaneously, plans executed moments afterward.

Suddenly, an idea- one, last desperate idea- raced through Tigress' head. _Po! The spear!_

_ Gotcha!_ He blocked one more attack, before Xun Wei jabbed forward again.

Shifu watched in awe as Po turned to the side, out of the way, caught the spear, and flipped it over, just as the panda had done not two days ago to him. As Xun Wei let go, Tigress spinning-kicked the rabbit into the air. She and Po both spun around to the other side, Tigress on the West and Po on the East. Switching places almost instantaneously, a whirlwind of dust flew around counter-clockwise, creating a small tornado of dirt in which all three warriors disappeared.

When the dust settled, Xun Wei found himself standing in the middle of the arena, Tigress' claws not two inches from his neck, and his own spear brushing against the fur.

Po and Tigress glared at Xun Wei, their attention directly on him. The rabbit knew that if he moved so much as an inch, he was dead.

But then again, Xun Wei was never one to give up. He had one last card to play.

"But don't you remember, Lien-hua?" he said silkily. "As I said before, nothing you do can ever erase what you really are: a monster."

Tigress said nothing.

"You hate me? Then look at yourself; aren't we exactly the same?" He sneered. "Two cold-blooded killers."

"What?" Po said.

"_I_ kicked the ball that broke Xiao-ping's neck. I was standing just a ways away from the window and heard everything, but I didn't pay any mind," the rabbit hissed. "And then he fell, and the ball I kicked rolled over and snapped his neck. But I was never to blame, don't be mistaken! "The rage and guilt in his voice was finally exposed, and he said everything as if he were trying to convince himself, not them. "It was all _her_ fault! _She's_ the real murderer here, not me!"

"That's where you're wrong," Tigress said, her voice soft. "I felt remorse for what I did, and outside of battle, I've never taken another life. You have taken too many, out of your own intention and under the excuse of execution. If anyone's a real monster here, it's you."

Xun Wei's face contorted into a snarl. "Then kill me," the rabbit said mockingly, trying to hide his anger at the truth. "Don't I deserve to die?"

"Find someone else to execute you, then," Tigress said flatly. "I will not kill a defenseless man."

"Fine," Xun Wei said, looking defeated. "Then I will… have to destroy you instead!" He flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the claws and spear, and attacked.

"Whoa!" Po shouted, and rolled out of the way of Xun's flying kick to the head. Unfortunately, he rolled too far, and landed on his back on the second roll forward. Xun Wei kicked him on a pressure point on the right side of his neck, making the panda go limp on that side. The rabbit whirled around and focused his entire concentration on Tigress.

The two enemies traded blows back and forth, the same determined snarl on both their faces. Suddenly, Xun Wei rushed around to the back of her, sweeping her one good leg from behind. She landed on the ground with a painful THUD.

"You never could win against me, Lien," Xun sneered, and, grabbing one of the pairs of chains/cuffs off the ground, raised it high to deliver the final bludgeoning blow.

_"Tigress, catch!"_ Po shouted, both verbally and mentally. With his good arm, he threw her the staff.

Tigress reached up with one hand and caught it. An instant later, as Xun Wei came down with the cuffs, she rammed it through his chest.

The shock on his face lasted a second, before is his eyes rolled back into his head. His eyes closed, and he crumpled to the ground, spear and all.

There was a stunned silence, before the crowd began to cheer. Tigress shakily stood up and stared at the body, unsure whether she should be laughing or crying.

Slowly, deaf to the roar of the crowds, she walked over to Po. She gently tapped a few spots on his back, returning his ability of motion to him.

Po stood up, unsure what to say. After a few moments, he thought quietly, _Tigress? You okay?_

A moment's hesitation passed, and then she hugged him. "I am now," she said softly.

He grinned. "Hey, let's go get Shifu and the others out."

"Hold on for a moment," she said. "I have something I need to do." And, without further ado, she kissed him in front of everyone.

The crowds went silent in shock.

"There. Let's go," Tigress said, pulling away with a small smirk. She walked off, leaving the crowds to stare at Po.

He grinned up at them, and, raising his hands in a 'peace-out' sign, he said quietly to himself, "Skadoosh."

**Later (Approx. 1:00 p.m.)**

Láng stared sadly out the window. It had been almost half an hour since the fight had ended, and nobody had come to take her away.

She should have known better. No one would ever want her. "Of course they're not coming," she told herself sternly. "You knew they wouldn't be. Get over it." But still, she felt tears prick at her eyes. She sniffed, and sat down onto the ground. She opened her fist to look at the domino, and sadly stood it up on its side.

Suddenly, another hand laid a domino down beside it. Láng gasped in surprise and looked up. "Master Tigress!"

Tigress smiled, holding a few dominos in her hand (Shifu had kept some in his robes all these years, and had given a few to her). She stood back up and helped Láng to her feet as well, leaning heavily on Shifu's staff and using it as a crutch. Láng noticed that her leg was splinted. "Come on. Let's go home."

Láng smiled widely and followed her. As she walked out of the room, she saw Po and the others. "Dragon Warrior!" she said, bowing.

"Aw, come on, Láng, you don't have to do that!" Po said, grinning. "Man, I can't _wait_ 'til you get to the Jade Palace!"

"So you won't be the only person who can't do a pull-up anymore?" Mantis joked.

"Ouch. Hey, man, that hurts!"

Tigress listened for a moment, and then turned and silently walked back in. She stood at the window, looking down at the ground. For a moment, she could almost picture that little white body…

"Tigress?"

She turned and looked at Po, who had come up behind her.

The panda walked up beside her and looked out the window. "It's time to let it go," he said gently, after a few moments.

Tigress nodded. "Yes. It's finished now."

He smiled and took her hand, leading her away from the window and out of the room. As he did so, Tigress glanced back and smiled, just a little. Somehow, she could almost hear Xiao-ping laughing, high above, and she knew that, without a doubt, this chapter of her life was over.

**The End**


End file.
